3 Shatterpoint
by Pengping
Summary: Pre-Thor. Sequel to "One Month One War." Tilaria is now on Asgard with the princes, still recovering from the effects of the war Alfheim was thrown into. Asgard soon learns in the worst way possible that Alfhiem's war is not yet over. Daris has returned and with a Dark Elf warship at his disposal, and his threat of destroying Alfheim AND Asgard has now become all too possible.
1. The Godling of Mischief

The clash of sparring swords echoed around the training yard, and Loki watched as Fandral and Sif went around each other. It had been almost a month since Tilaria's bloody visit, and the past month had been surprisingly calm. Loki remembered distinctly her tracing runes with her own blood and that shadow of hers killing Arlen, but he shook the memory off.

Despite the bad feeling he had about magic like that, he still missed Tilaria. The apple tree he was sitting near had lost its apples, and the rich green leaves were beginning to turn golden along the edges. There was a slight chill in the air that Loki found refreshing compared to the heat of the summer.

"So much for a week," he sighed, and looked down at the sparring sword he was forced to bring with him.

Thor heard Loki's sigh, and he glanced away from his friend's sparring briefly. He felt a little sorry that Loki was feeling so bad, but he missed Tilaria to. Sparring helped pull Thor from his gloomy mood, but it did little for Loki, and this past month he had been so quiet that he hadn't even caused any of his normal mischief. How could Thor cheer him up?

Loki raised his hand from his sword, and reached over beside him. He idly scratched his pet cobra underneath his chin as if he was a cat, and the serpent leaned into his hand. The three ice like crystals that grew from the outer corner of each eye turned a dark relaxed blue color to match his relaxed mood.

Thor jumped slightly when he saw the cobra sitting by Loki's side with its head raised a foot off the ground, but that snake was forever surprising Thor. Slítas came and went as he pleased, but he was usually seen wrapped around Loki's arm underneath his jacket. As if on cue Slítas nuzzled Loki's hand that had been stroking him and stuck his head up his sleeve. Loki stopped him before he could go up his sleeve and shook his head no in light humor.

"Thor, Loki!" Their training master, Eirill, called out. "You're up."

Loki scowled from where he sat, and Slítas, detected his annoyance, and slithered up the apple tree. The younger prince wasn't allowed to use his magic here, but that wasn't his real problem. Unlike most mages, Loki knew how to fight without his magic. He just didn't know how to fight with a sword, and could barely hold one of them right. After Arlen and Tilaria's duel, he would have thought everyone would have realized how deadly daggers were, but no, Loki still had to use a sword.

Loki got up slowly, letting his training sword hover behind him like a loyal puppy with a charm that tweaked Asgard's gravity field as he figured out the wording of the spell. He mumbled it under his breath as he got into position and waved the correct hand signs. Everyone thought he was doing the counter-spell to get his sword to stop hovering, and he plucked his sword out of the air without being challenged.

With his sword in hand, the brothers began to spar as they were forced to do. Thor knew that Loki was no good with a sword and hated combat with them, so he tried to go easy on his little brother so he wouldn't embarrass him. Even with that, Thor still disarmed Loki in a few strokes.

Eirill sighed deeply when the sword flew out of Loki's hand, and he knew already that Loki wasn't trying. Loki simply hated combat with swords, and Eirill knew he would rather use daggers or magic like a woman instead of trying to act like a warrior. It irked Eirill to no end that one of Asgard's princes had turned out to be such a weakling, but there was little he could do except try to make Loki act like a real warrior.

"Loki, are you asleep?" Eirill meant to say to Loki, but the gathered Godlings heard his question as, "Peelsp uoy era, Ikol?"

"What did you say?" Loki asked Eirill innocently.

"What?" Eirill asked, but it came out as "Tahw?"

"Loki…" Thor groaned but everyone heard "Ikol…"

Thor clapped a hand over his mouth, eyes wide when he realized his words were slurred. He thought he heard a distinctly amused clicking sound from Slítas up in the apple tree. Loki dropped the innocent act after a few seconds and started grinning. A small charm hovered his sparring sword away from him and to the grass besides the other children. His twin daggers materialized in his palms with small flashes of emerald light.

"Want to spar again?" Loki offered his brother with another smile.

He balanced the end of one of his dagger's pommel on his fingertip so the blade was pointing straight up. Loki did not move, and the blade did not waver. It seemed somehow he had managed to balance it perfectly.

"Don't worry," Loki added at Thor's wary gaze on the sharpened edge of the dagger. "I've placed a guard charm around it so it can't cut anything, just like your sparring sword can't."

Thor nodded and raised his blade with a smile, amused by the interesting turn of events this had just taken. After a month, Loki was finally starting his mischief again and mischief was what made Loki, Loki. He was glad Loki was starting to act like his old self, and Thor knew that it would be difficult to defeat his brother when he was using his daggers. As if to emphasize Thor's thought, Loki flipped his daggers so they were in a reverse grip and fell into a confident fighting stance as though it were second nature.

Eirill shook his head and walked over, intending to break the two of them up. This was not the exercise, and he did not want to encourage Loki as Thor was always doing. Loki glanced over his way without moving his head, and the sly grin he gave made Eirill freeze where he was. He was instantly wary of yet more childish mischief from the child, and he did not want to be on the receiving end of Loki's magic.

Crimson sparkles danced around Loki's fingers as he waved his hand in a pattern, whispering near silent words. The air around he and Thor and solidified into a red-tinted dome. Red sparkles danced around the air that made the forceshield. Thor knew this spell looked familiar, and he wasn't able to place where he had seen it before Loki spoke.

"I can't believe it took me a month to learn Arlen's spell, but it's not bad considering that the only thing I had to learn it from was him using it during that fight in the dining hall." Loki bounced on the balls of his feet with a smug look, but there were shadows in his emerald irises. "Now then Thor, ready for that duel? Or are you scared because I've got the blades I want now?"

Thor had flinched back at the memory of Arlen's attack, and at the shadows in his brother's eyes, but he tightened his grip on the blade and nodded affirmative. There was no reason why he should be scared by Loki because this was Loki. A new spell, especially one from a dubious or forbidden grimoire, and a little mischief was Loki.

Thor swept at him lightly, but Loki flicked one of his blades and parried the blade harmlessly away, deflecting it downward. The force behind the strike jerked Thor of balance and created an opening for him to return a strike. Loki did so, and slashed with both of his blades, freezing a moment before he actually struck his brother.

His sudden speed startled Thor, and Loki's blades set himself against Thor's skin, one at the wrist holding the sword and the other on his throat near one of his carotid arteries. Thor froze, trembling. He had no idea that Loki was so fast, and he stared at Loki just like everyone else gathered did.

"What?" Loki asked the gathered crowd in amusement although he was only looking at Thor, "just because I don't like fighting with swords doesn't mean I can't fight."

There was a quiet purr in his voice when he relaxed his stance and lowered his daggers.

"Where did you learn that?" Thor asked his brother, and his grin widened when he realized he was no longer talking backwards.

"That reverse speaking spell was temporary anyway," Loki shrugged his shoulders. "As for the move, trade secret and I fear you're not a dagger-wielder so I can't tell you."

"You-you must have cheated." Sif stuttered from outside the forceshield.

Loki turned and felt a sharp pain in his head that made him flinch and stumble. Thor saw the movement and reached out his hand to Loki, but Loki straightened and ignored Thor's attempt to help him. He understood now why the forceshield Arlen had cast drew off of his opponet's lifeforce to power itself. It was not a drain that Loki wanted to be under. Annoyed at his own weakness, he muttered the counter spell and let the forceshield fade. As it faded, so did the throbbing pain in his temples.

He rolled his eyes, and took a light step as if nothing had happened to him. By now, he knew that acting weak in front of Thor's friends would only end in being ridiculed by them when Thor wasn't around. Sif raised her training sword in an obvious challenge to a fight. Loki sighed at her boringly, and his daggers vanishing once more with a distortion of air and light.

Sif was not expecting him to stand down so suddenly and tightened her grip on the hilt of her blade. "What's the matter prince, have you turned craven?"

"Turned bored," Loki corrected and turned his back on Sif with a lazy wave of his hand. "You're not worth the effort."

"Oh no you don't!" Sif spat, running at him.

Before Thor could intervene on his brother's behalf, Loki turned and tapped the toes of his left boot against the ground once. The air seemed to freeze as he did so, and tendrils of blue energy spiraled out from his foot. It quickly expanded to cover the entire field, and solidified into ice. Sif's foot slipped on the slick surface, and she slid to the ground, crashing onto her back.

Eirill foolishly took a step and flung his arms out to try and keep his balance in vain, and after a second he fell flat on his stomach, chin thumping against the ground. Unlike him, the other children took care not to move from where they were sitting, and Thor held his breath.

"Loki…" Thor whispered as he looked around the field, trying his best not to move for fear of falling to a similar fate as Sif and Eirill. "I didn't hear you say anything."

"I don't have to with my ice." Loki assured Thor with a smile, and slid confidently across the ice as if it were more natural then walking.

Thor turned his head gently, holding his arms out slightly. Tendrils of sapphire magic were still spreading across the surface of the field and solidifying into ice. His magic was affecting the environment around him, and Thor could feel a chill seeping into his bones as if it were winter and could see his breath in the air.

Loki barely glanced at his ice, and it stopped spreading on his silent command. It solidified and settled down. Eirill opened his eyes and looked at the ice around him in surprise, realizing that Loki seemed to have as masterful a control over his ice as Loki.

Sif cautiously sat up, and picked up the hilt of her training sword. "Change it back Loki, you little cheater, so we can fight fairly."

"Real life isn't fair," Loki chuckled and raised an eyebrow in light amusement, "and neither are fights in real life. I will dismiss my ice however, if you can come and make me."

Sif glared at him for a moment and then glanced at Thor, but when it was obvious that he wasn't going to do anything she gritted out, "fine."

She tightened her grip on her sword and stabbed it into the ground, intending to bury it in the ice and use it as leverage to get to her feet. Surprise flickered across her eyes when the sword merely bounced off the ice without leaving a scratch. Sif looked at the ice, and then back up at Loki again. Every part of him was unnatural, from the sharpened canines to his ice.

She pulled her feet under her and slowly, carefully, stood up. Her balance shifted, and she slipped and slid a little before finding a center of balance. Once she was fairly certain she had her balance she attempted to throw herself at Loki, but the movement merely made her feet slip out from under her and she crashed back to the ice just as Eirill had. Again she got up and tried to approach Loki, and again she fell.

Amid the sudden tension, no one noticed the leaves of the apple tree rustle as someone teleported straight into their branches. Slítas raised his head from where he was lying on a branch and looked at the intruder, and then lowered his head back to the branch. The intruder leaned against the trunk and watched the chaos unfolding casually, hidden by the golden-edged leaves.

Loki didn't move from where he was standing a few feet away, watching her failed attempts impassively. The lack of an arrogant smirk seemed to anger Sif further, and she lunged at Loki, fingers clawing at Loki's jacket. Her strike dissipated the illusion of Loki before her, and without him to grab onto and regain her balance she was left to fall to the frozen ground once again. The real Loki glided silently past her as his illusion dissolved into emerald swirls.

Loki didn't move from where he was standing a few feet away, watching her failed attempts impassively. The lack of an arrogant smirk seemed to anger Sif further, and she lunged at Loki, and rammed into him – only to shoot through an illusion. The real Loki glided silently past her as his illusion dissolved into emerald swirls and Sif crashed to the frozen ground once more.

Sif seethed at him, shivering slightly from the icy cold for it was as cold as if it was the heart of winter. "Why you-"

A laugh interrupted her sentence as the person in the tree finally failed to contain their laughter. All the children looked away, and Loki curiously slid across the ice closer to the tree although he took care to stay out of Sif's reach. The leaves rustled and a figure in a dark blue cloak jumped down from the branches and landed on the yellow grass near where the ice started. Although her face was hidden by the hood of her cloak, her laugh was unmistakable to Loki.

"Wow Loki," the intruder laughed again and lowered her hood with a hand, letting her golden hair cascade down her shoulders. "You really are the Godling of Mischief."

Loki's eyes widened and he felt himself starting to smile as the intruder revealed herself. "Tilaria, you're back!"

* * *

 **Yep, there goes Loki and his mischief again. Of course, he's using ice. His ice responds to him so wonderfully he doesn't see why not, although he doesn't know quite why...**


	2. Back to Stay

"Hello again." Tilaria told the group of Æsir children and tipped her head in a slight bow, although she did not leave the tree's side for the ice began just a few inches from her feet.

Loki abandoned his taunting of Sif and slid over to Tilaria gracefully. "Hey Tilaria, didn't you say you'd be back in a week when you left?"

"Surely you've heard about the war that's been waging on Alfheim for the past month." Tilaria drew her eyebrows together delicately, assuming that Loki had not and was surprised by that fact.

"I heard about it," Loki nodded quietly, "but not much information has been released."

Everyone had heard about the shocking fact that the Light Elves had gotten into a civil war, and that the force opposing Hallien had been led by one of his council. Unfortunately, the Elves had been quiet about it so not much else was known other than the outcome. Daris had been using forbidden blood magic, but had been defeated. He had escaped during the last battle, and his whereabouts were currently unknown.

"I played a larger role in defeating Daris then Hallien wants to admit, so I told him that I would let him tell the story however he wanted it if he let me be fostered on Asgard." Tilaria added almost shyly.

"Does that mean you're staying?" Thor asked from where he stood brightly, wishing he could move and greet her but knowing better than to brave Loki's ice.

Tilaria nodded, and her hair bobbed with the movement. "I'm supposed to explain the specifics to Odin, but I don't know where he is. I figured that you'd be able to take me to him. Do you know where the Allfather is?"

"BORR'S BEARD!" A voice shouted at the top of his lungs behind the children.

All seven of them turned towards the source of the voice, and gasped. They had turned just in time to see Odin slip after putting a foot on the ice and they watched in as if in slow motion as he started to fall. Before he even hit the ground, Loki narrowed his eyes slightly and all of the ice he had made dissipated into water vapor. Odin hit the ground hard, and Gungnir clattering to the ground away from him.

Eirill, having fetched the Allfather without the children noticing, stood behind Odin. Although he knew he should be moving to help the Allfather back to his feet, he found himself too horrified to move. He could feel a headache coming on when he saw his king lying on the ground, and suddenly understood why this group of children went through their training instructors so quickly. It was little wonder that even General Tyr usually didn't spare time to train them.

Odin sat up, and looked around only to find the training field conspicuously ice free. " _Eirill_!"

"Yes sir," Eirill fidgeted, looking like he wanted to test out an invisibility spell.

Odin warily stood up, cautious of the ice returning or something else happening. "How did this happen?"

"Um, well, sir I," Eirill stuttered as he tried to figure out a way to explain what had happened that wouldn't end with Odin shouting at him.

Eirill also realized that not only were the children often going through their training instructors, Odin was often shouting at the training instructor. It might have been wiser for him to not take over position as their training instructor after all. These six children were more of a hassle then his son and all of the other Star Guard cadets to be put together.

It was Tilaria who saved Eirill when she stepped out of the shadow of the apple tree, and into Odin's view. "Greeting once more Allfather."

Her bow this time was a deeper tip of the head that she had given the children, but she did not go one knee. Eladrin, be they Light Elves of Dark Elves, had honor and pride enough not to kneel. Those were two things Tilaria had been taught the Æsir lacked. Kneeling was something she would never lower herself to do, but she did not mind bowing to the ruler of the Nine Realms.

Odin acknowledged Tilaria's appearance with a slight nod, and some of his anger slipped away as he was forced into the role of politics. "Ah Tilaria, I was wandering where you were. Hallien said you would come straight to me once you arrived."

"Sorry _ser_ ," Tilaria apologized. "I came across your sons first."

Now that the ice was clear from the field, Sif tried to stalk over to Loki. Thor walked up to his brother's side closer to Tilaria, and she was forced to stop in her tracks. There was no way that she could do anything to Loki with his brother so close, and Odin was also here.

"When did you get here?" Fandral asked Tilaria in curiosity as he stood with Volstagg and Hogun.

Tilaria tilted her head as she thought about it for a moment before responding. "Around the time Sif started to fight with Loki. All of you were distracted, and I teleported straight into the tree so you couldn't see me appear. Still, you must have been very preoccupied to not have seen Bifrost activate."

"From what Hallien told me of it over the Link I am interested to hear his proposition." Odin accepted, looking as inconspicuously as he could for Gungnir.

The Æsir Godlings relaxed slightly when they realized that Tilaria had just diverted Odin from scolding them, and Eirill took an equally relieved breath.

Odin noticed them relax, and you could almost see his remaining eye sharpen. "As for the rest of you…"

Everyone present collectively tensed up again when they realized Odin hadn't forgotten about them.

"Eirill," Odin started with the group. "You came and got me because Loki was using his magic. Next time, do not leave them alone to their own devices for it will only dissolve. I assume that you can reprimand one child without needing me to help you, especially since you have a son of your own."

Eirill eeped something akin to an affirmative under Odin's scathing glare, and Odin continued to his younger son. "As for you Loki, I thought I told you that I didn't want you using your ice magic. I would expect you to know better than to use your magic at all during sparring practice. Loki?"

Loki had vanished from sight. Odin sighed, not in the least bit surprised by his foster son's actions. Although Loki was quick to cause trouble, he was equally quick to vanish when the adults came to avoid punishment.

"I'm sorry father," Loki's voice came from beside Odin suddenly, spooking the Allfather slightly.

Beside Odin stood Loki, and he was holding Gungnir in his hands. Loki held out Gungnir to Odin, and the staff purred in his grip like a contented cat. Odin hesitated for the briefest of moments before he reached out and took Gungnir from Loki. The staff stopped glowing and instantly went silent as if it were mad at Odin for taking it from Loki. Tilaria noticed Gungnir's actions and looked from Odin to Loki curiously.

"That ice magic is dangerous," Odin scolded Loki properly now that the boy was in sight.

Loki lowered his eyes in acknowledgment and whispered quietly, "yes father."

"Now," Odin said briskly and turned his back on Loki, shifting Gungnir so it was in his right hand. "The rest of you children are dismissed, as are you Eirill. Tilaria, I want to hear the full details of Hallien's idea. Thor, you may come and hear this as well."

"Odin," Tilaria interrupted quietly, "perhaps not. I would rather speak to you in private first, and then you may tell your sons as much information as you wish."

Odin was surprised by what Tilaria said, and so was everyone else. She seemed sincere, and her fuchsia irises were serious. Heimdall had watched over the month-long civil war on Alfheim, but since the battles had been so short and in such random and unexpected places, he'd actually missed seeing much of it. It sounded like Tilaria was going to explain some of what happened, and Odin was instantly curious to hear her out.

"Very well," Odin said quietly. "I will speak to you alone, Tilaria."

Tilaria nodded that was for the best and gave the princes a small smile as she followed Odin away. Thor and Loki were disappointed that she was leaving already, and so was Fandral. This time at least, she wouldn't be gone forever.

Eirill cleared his throat when the children began talking, and he motioned them to come back over to him. "Allfather might have dismissed you, but that does not mean your lessons are over with today. Everyone pair off, let's run through some sequences to burn the extra energy you seem to have."

All of the children groaned, but at Eirill's stern look broke off into pairs. It seemed it would be several hours before they say her next. Loki glanced at Eirill innocently as he paired off with Fandral to go through the sequences. Perhaps he could use his magic to persuade Eirill to release them a little early from their training. That thought made him smile mischievously, and a bit of magic fluttered around his fingers dangerously.

* * *

"I see," Odin said quietly after Tilaria had finished explaining some of the details of Alfheim's recent civil war. "So Daris let the blood magic corrode his mind, and then he began using Fel. What a waste."

He sighed and shook his head as if he were disappointed. While he was doing that however, he was looking down at Tilaria. Odin believed Tilaria when she said Daris had used blood magic, and he was wary at the fact that Tilaria had as well.

"Blood must answer to blood," Tilaria spoke nonchalantly without turned to face Odin. "That is how blood feuds and other forms of revenge work, and that is how blood magic work."

She glanced up at Odin now with the same serious expression she usually wore.

"As I am the only _stable_ blood mage on Alfheim I am the only one who could counter Daris," Tilaria explained further with an innocent shrug of her shoulders.

Tilaria mentally scolded herself while Odin apprised her. Her deal with Hallien was that she would help ensure the Æsir did not find out the ruler of the Ljósálfr was a blood mage, and she would be allowed to be fostered on Asgard. She had accidently put emphasize on the word stable, and that implied that there were other blood mages on Alfheim.

Odin either didn't notice or didn't comment on that for he reluctantly went on to the next topic at hand. "Are there any leads on Daris's whereabouts?"

"I fear not," Tilaria sighed regrettably. "We have his second-in-command, Rane, in our dungeon, but there is no sign of Daris himself. A large number of other Ljósálfr have recently gone missing and we believe that they have abandoned their homes to stand with Daris in his exile."

"So Daris has his own army," Odin contemplated. "This does not make things much better."

"It is possible that they have been abducted and been sacrificed by Daris for their blood," Tilaria pointed out. "Considering the sheer number of Ljósálfr that have gone missing though, that is the more unlikely reason."

Odin shook his head while Tilaria continued. "When Daris makes his next move I will likely have to be the one to combat him, as I am not affected by the blood magic's song."

Odin nodded agreement somewhat reluctantly. Having someone who could counter Daris on Asgard might not be all that bad of an arrangement however, he was still wary of letting an Arch blood mage remain. It all came down to pluses and minuses, and when he balanced the two against each other he decided it would be better to have a blood mage to counter him despite the risk her presence presented.

"How long does Hallien wish you to be fostered here on Asgard?" Odin asked, deciding that would be a wise question to being up.

"As long as I want," Tilaria responded steadily. "Nothing official was set but after the chaos with Daris, Hallien was not exactly pleased to have yet another blood mage on Alfheim, especially one who has tried to kill him before."

Odin had heard about her earlier attempt to kill Hallien several decades ago. He had wondered if the rumors were true, but it seemed that they were.

"What assurance do I have that you will not try to kill me?" Odin asked in wry amusement.

"I have no reason to," Tilaria crossed her hams behind her back casually and looked up at the ceiling. "No motive, no crime."

"Still," Odin chuckled softly. "To foster a Ljósálfr royal here on Asgard is unexpected."

Tilaria didn't need her telepathy to tell that Odin wasn't taking the idea serious and let her arms drop to her sides. "Before the war with Jötunnheim five centuries ago, Prince Laufey and his sister Nál were fostered here on Asgard with you and your brothers. Is my presence truly more startling then that?"

Odin almost growled when she brought up Laufey's temporary stay on Asgard. Now that Odin thought about it, even before he and Laufey had come of age the two of them were already enemies. It was little wonder the Ice War had broken out.

"I presume that I would only be here until I come of adult age," Tilaria tilted her head to one side, "that is often how long-term fostering works. It is sort of like an unofficial adoption, correct?"

"Correct," Odin said cautiously, wary of what Tilaria would say after brining up Laufey.

"My father was a Ljósálfr, but my mother was an Æsir so it is not too unprecedented that I remain here on Asgard," Tilaria pointed out. Since I'm already adopted I would just be going from one foster family to another, so it would hardly bother me. I would even keep my title as Heiress."

"But in order to do this you would need my approval." Odin admitted, thinking that this situation was nice and logical and as such very elfin.

"Indeed," Tilaria tipped her head down in agreement for a moment.

"I suppose since Hallien has already arranged it that he would find it insulting if I sent you back," Odin asked after a moment.

Tilaria gave an innocent smile and lied smoothly. "It _would_ help convince Hallien to send another ambassador."

"I do not have a foster family set up to take you in, "Odin warned.

That drew a chuckle from Tilaria. "Tis good, for I do not need one. If I could have quarters here in the palace I will be able to look after myself."

Odin didn't think that as a mixed-blood Tilaria would have had much sympathy or support on Alfheim. She had likely learned how to take care of herself without anyone's help long ago.

"Very well," Odin sighed. He knew it was in his best interest to agree to this, both to pacify Hallien and give him command over a blood mage. "The quarters in the Ambassadorial suites are empty. You can pick whichever one you wish. My sons can show you around Asgard once they finish with their training master."

"Thank you Allfather," Tilaria bowed again.

Her hair fell in front of her face, so Odin couldn't see her victorious smile. The smile was gone when she straightened, and her features were elfin neutral once again.

* * *

 **When your up against a blood mage, and the only thing that can stop them is a blood mage, it's kinda a good idea to have one on your side. Don't you agree? Tilaria's actually really lucky that Daris is on the loose because if he wasn't then Odin never would have agreed to her staying. Yes, Odin and Laufey have known each other since they were kids but they never did learn how to get along.**

 **Loki is also going to end their training lesson early. He he, leave it to him.**


	3. What is Home?

Loki was walking somewhat victoriously beside his older brother about ten minutes after Tilaria had left the courtyard with Odin. Eirill had cut their lesson short for the day, and told all the children to scatter before leaving in search of some mead to nurse his new headache with. Thor glanced at Loki as they walked, but this time he was glad for Loki's mischief.

The brothers were walking to the steps that led to their father's throne room when they saw Tilaria starting to walk down them. She stopped walking when she saw them approaching and gave them a curious look. A gentle autumn breeze tugged at her dark blue cloak and made the lower hem ripple. Thor waved brightly to her and ran over to the stairs while Loki followed at a slower pace.

"I thought you were going to be training for several hours yet," Tilaria called to them as she glided down the stairs with elfin grace.

"We were, but…" Thor turned and looked at Loki. "There was a change of plans."

Loki forced himself to continue to walk calmly and shrugged.

"I see," Tilaria smiled and gave Loki an amused look.

"Are you really staying?" Thor asked her as she walked down to him and stepped off the stairs.

Tilaria nodded, "Odin's approved the plan. He said I could pick out a room in the Ambassadorial wing, and that you two could show me around the palace grounds."

Thor nodded exuberantly. "We can do that."

"How about we go to our rooms and drop off our sparring gear first?" Loki interrupted. "We can show Tilaria our rooms, and then take her to Ambassador's wing so she can take a look at the rooms there."

Thor thought about it and then nodded again, agreeing with his plan. He waved Loki to hurry up and then started to lead Tilaria back inside the palace. Loki caught up to him, and walked behind Tilaria and Thor. While Thor started to talk about a dozen different subjects, Loki followed quietly, pleased. Tilaria's visit a month ago had ended in blood when Arlen had attacked, but hopefully things would be better this time.

"There are a lot of empty quarters in the Ambassador's Wing," Thor was currently saying. "You could take your pick. Some of the quarters there are almost as good as mother and fathers."

"Thor," Tilaria interrupted him gently.

"Hmm?" Thor asked innocently and blinked his wide blue eyes.

"Odin has agreed to my staying here, but there are still dozens of details to work out," Tilaria warned. "Quarters are just the start. It's going to take several weeks for things to settle down. I am a member of another realm's royal family."

Thor pouted and quieted, hating the fact that he had just gotten scolded but understanding.

"Do you mean like with Hogun?" Loki inputted. "He's Vanaheim's prince."

"Yes," Tilaria agreed. "That's a perfect example. Inheritance for Vanir's is passed down the paternal line, so even though Hogun is the only male heir, he's actually last in line for the throne. Like with me, Hogun is not the crown heir of his realm and that's why it's okay for him to be on Asgard instead of back home. Thor, do you remember when Hogun first came here, what it was like?"

"Yeah," Thor relented. "It was hectic until everything settled down and he got used to life here."

"It'll be the same for me," Tilaria nodded.

Thor understood, but with Hogun it was different. He hadn't even known Hogun existed until Odin told him that Vanaheim's prince was going to be staying on Asgard. It had taken time for him to warm up to Hogun stoic and silent demeanor, whereas he already knew Tilaria from her last visit a month ago.

Loki quickened his pace to walk beside Tilaria. "I read something about Eladrin a few weeks ago. It said that the correct title for female heirs to the throne is Heiress, not Princess like the other races say. Is that true?"

"It's just a habit the Eladrin got into," Tilaria shrugged like it wasn't important. "My correct title is Heiress though. Calling me Princess would be slurring the title like how the Ljósálfr are sometimes called Light Elves."

Loki understood, but he'd never thought of calling the Ljósálfr Light Elves was a disrespectful slur. The two of them had fallen behind Thor a little, and Loki nodded in Thor's direction before giving her a mischievous look. Tilaria looked at him curiously, and Loki caught up to his brother.

"Hey Thor," Loki said lightly.

Thor turned his head at him curiously, wondering what Loki was going to say now.

"It may take a few weeks but at least then things won't be so boring around here," Loki promised him.

"Boring?" Thor stopped walking, and gave Loki a disbelieving look. "Things are not boring around here, especially not with you around."

"Yes," Loki said with a fake smile meant only to put Thor at ease. "I do seem to be saving your life every other day from some crazy adventure you try and go on."

As he spoke the laces on Thor's shoes came united and started moving like snakes without him noticing.

"What do you want me to do? Say thank you? You know I'm glad you help me, little brother." Thor continued.

"No, I don't need you to say thanks." Loki continued.

"Then what?" Thor asked curiously.

Loki didn't answer, just smiled – it was a smile as sharp as a blade and bespoke a certain degree of danger for Thor. Thor noticed and took a step back, or tried rather. His shoes got caught and he ended up on his back with an oof. He winced and sat up, staring at his boots. The laces had tied themselves into a nice big bow.

"Loki!" He sputtered and shouted.

"See brother?" Loki purred, "I don't need thanks, the look on your face was plenty sufficient."

Tilaria couldn't help it and started laughing at Loki's mischief. Loki bowed to her as if her laughter had been his goal all along, but Thor scowled at being made a fool of in front of Tilaria.

His little brother had never had an interest in girls before, so why did he have to start being interested in _this_ one? Tilaria tugged her cloak closer to her shyly when the princes looked at her and stopped laughing. Even with her cloak half-hiding her figure it was hard for Thor not to look at her.

Unlike the Æsir woman who wore long-sleeve dresses that came to the floor, Tilaria was dressed in the Ljósálfr style. With their realm in an eternal summer, the Ljósálfr wore very little. Like her kin, she wore a miniskirt, a pair of cloth arm bracers, and a sleeveless tunic cut to show her midriff with a high collar that came to her neck. This was a lot more skin then the Æsir were used to seeing from their females and Tilaria had a very nice figure.

"Loki," Thor repeated sharply, frustrated, "fix my boots!"

"Why?" Loki asked with an innocent tilt of his head.

"Loki…" Thor warned.

Tilaria started laughing again, and Thor decided that he would cut Loki some slack just this one time. A chilly breeze drifted into the hallway rom the open doors, and it pulled at Tilaria's cloak. The sun clasp scratched her neck as if punishing her for daring to wear the Ljósálfr's sun. She pulled it closer anyway.

"Don't like the cold?" Loki asked when he saw her tug the cloak to her.

Beside him, Thor had tugged his boots off of his feet so he could work on the knot easier. His fingers couldn't seem to untangle it, and the pads of Thor's fingers tingled as he touched the laces. Thor's sensitivity to magic allowed him to detect that Loki had hexed his laces. There was no way someone without magic like Thor could undo the knot. Loki would have to release the hex first.

"We elves used our magic to place our realm in an eternal summer," Tilaria reminded Loki, "so we're not used to feeling cold. Although we have night and day, there is no winter there. There is one here though, correct?"

"Yes," Loki agreed while ignoring Thor's struggle with his boots. "It's autumn now, and will be winter in a few weeks."

"It's gets colder?" Tilaria asked in surprise.

Loki nodded almost apologetically, aware that elves had practically no immunity to the cold.

"Hey Thor!" Someone shouted, interrupting what Loki was going to say next.

Thor looked up from struggling with his boots to see Fandral approaching. He still had his training gear on.

Fandral gave Thor a boyish grin, "Why are you sitting down?"

Thor held up his boots, displaying the knotted bow. Tilaria turned behind him and the movement caught Fandral's eye, revealing her presence. Fandral hadn't noticed her before, but he did so now and he smiled.

"Milady," he addressed Tilaria and gave her a sweeping bow. "Forgive me for not greeting you earlier. I believe you are more beautiful than your last visit."

Tilaria ducked her head away with a blush. Ljósálfr didn't have any idea of flattery, so she had no idea what to make of Fandral's charming words. Thor scowled again at Fandral, aware that he was really not having any luck with Tilaria.

"Loki, fix my boots!" He demanded again.

They were inside, but the people outside could see dark clouds starting to gather as Thor became more upset. If his temper didn't calm down then it would soon be storming. Loki looked away from him however, eyes focusing on something out of sight.

"Loki!" Thor repeated.

"Shush," Loki shushed him with a snap.

Thor instantly shushed when Loki took that tone. Loki's magic let him sense things Thor couldn't, and when Loki got like that it was usually because of his magic. He sighed and rolled his eyes.

"There are Star Guard coming, but I think they're drunk." Loki sighed, amazed by that since it was barely mid-morning.

"Are your warriors always drunk?" Tilaria asked.

The tone of her voice made all three of the Æsir near her wince. From the group's location, the children could now hear slurred voices and unsteady footsteps. Two Star Guard came into sight.

"Hey, you kids!" One of them shouted.

"Scatter!" Loki ordered loudly and swept an arm.

Thor wisely agreed with his brother's plan, and he grabbed his boots to run down the hall in his socks. Loki turned to Tilaria, but Fandral already grabbed her hand. Asgard's younger prince hesitated for a brief moment as Fandral and Tilaria started down the hall but then teleported away in a swirl of emerald sparks.

With Thor run off and Loki teleported away, the Star Guard were left with Fandral and Tilaria. Fandral took Tilaria down the hall and back outside to the front of the palace with the Star Guard in pursuit. The light brightened and the temperature dropped as the two were back outside. Tilaria could just teleport both of them away, but Fandral didn't give her a chance to make the suggestion and in all honesty she wasn't worried about a few Star Guard.

"This way," Fandral told her and tugged Tilaria around the front entrance and into another hallway.

The two of them hesitated inside, hidden behind the doors. Their pursers came to a quick stop they looked around, unable to find them. After a few minutes, the Star Guard gave up and wandered back into the halls walking more sideways then forward.

"Do you do that often?" Tilaria asked while Fandral looked around the corner.

Fandral smiled without turning around, "it depends on the day. Normally they don't cause trouble until the sun sets and it gets worse the closer to the weekend it gets. Where were the Princes taking you?"

"Just around mostly," Tilaria shrugged, deciding that looking at possible rooms could wait.

"So you are staying?" Fandral asked brightly.

"Until I come to age or something changes I believe I will," Tilaria nodded agreement.

Fandral grinned happily. "Since the Princes are no longer here, may I now have the honor of being your escort?"

Tilaria looked down to see that Fandral was still holding her hand. When Fandral noticed her gaze he raised her hand and kissed the back of it like a gentleman. Then he let go. Tilaria's hand stayed in the air, and she looked very surprised.

Her hand was warm and Fandral's smile was soft. Tilaria slowly smiled back, silently agreeing with his idea to guide her.

* * *

While Loki was silently standing on the railing of his balcony looking over the golden city, Thor was stalking down the hall inside. He was still in his socks, and he was not happy. Thor stopped walking when he caught sight of his mother, and her magic alerted her that her son was near.

"Thor," Frigga greeted Thor with a smile. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be showing Tilaria around?"

Thor tightened his grip on the laces of his shoes he was holding. "I was. I hate magic."

"Is that why you aren't wearing your shoes?" Frigga asked, and put a hand over her mouth to smother her laughter as she imagined the situation that had occurred.

Thor held up his boots, and showed that the laces were knotted together into a bow. "Loki did this to me while we were talking, and then some drunk Star Guard showed up. Loki teleported off and Fandral took Tilaria and went off in a direction, but I don't' know _where_."

"Ah," Frigga said, realizing that she had been correct and she held out her hand to him.

Thor obediently handed over his boots, and crossed his arms. It was a simple hex Loki had used, but the knot couldn't' be undone until the hex faded in a few hours. She whispered the countercharm and Thor's laces fell apart. Her son brightened as she handed them back and sat down to put them on.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you where the other children ran off to," Frigga apologized to her son. "I haven't seen them and it would take some time to track them magically."

Thor knotted the laces of the boots with a frustrated look and stood up. "I suppose I can start looking for Loki in the library."

"You wanted to show her around, didn't you?" Frigga asked gently at Thor's frustration.

Thor stood and stared at his boots, "She's beautiful mother."

"So she is," Frigga agreed, "but looks are not everything. I have a feeling there is more to Tilaria then meets the eye."

She could tell that her warning went past Thor unnoticed. He would have to learn about girls the hard way, but that didn't surprise her. It was how most boys Thor's age were.

* * *

"So, where would you like to go first?" Fandral asked as he walked with Tilaria, the two of them having successfully lost their chasers.

Tilaria shook her head. She had never been shy before but his smile was so disarming, and she didn't quite know how to react to it.

She tilted her head up as a being came close, and her telepathy alerted her that two Asgardians were coming down the hallway. Although the scan was not deep enough to detect thoughts she knew she was correct when two female Æsir about her age walked around a corner ahead of them.

The two girls wore long dresses with sleeves that came to their wrists. Their hair was combed and twisted up into delicate designs, and the one walking in front wore so much makeup and jewelry that it was hard to tell what she looked like. Her companion trailed a few steps behind her, and she had significantly less makeup on so Tilaria was able to easily see her appearance. She had bright crimson hair and twilight blue eyes with neon yellow bangs framing her face. There was something familiar about her appearance.

"Hello, milady Jonelle." Fandral interrupted Tilaria and the one with the makeup stopped walking and looked at him, "and Sefa."

He added the last part as if an afterthought, and the plainer girl with the twilight eyes tipped her head.

"This is Princess Tilaria," Fandral motioned to her.

Tilaria drew herself from her thoughts and she bowed slightly in respect. Heiress, Tilaria thought although she knew it didn't matter, her correct title was Heiress.

The girl named Jonelle smiled and curtsied. "Princess, I am Jonelle Akirdottir. Will you be remaining long?"

"Yes," Tilaria agreed. "I am being fostered here."

Jonelle's blue eyes lit up. "I am pleased. Would you like to come to my home? I would find your company pleasurable."

Tilaria looked at her eyes and hesitated in my answer. They were like Hallien's – a beautiful blue but cold. Because she was telepathic she had been trained to contain her abilities and avoid scanning someone's mind by accident, but there is something in those eyes that bothered her. She slowly reached out with her senses.

Jonelle's smile was bright, but the emotions in her mind were disdainful and very cold. They were searching for power and to make friends in high places to further that end. As one of Alfheim's royal family, Jonelle was interested in becoming her friend.

Tilaria rethought her answer. "I am afraid not, I'm supposed to speak to Queen Frigga."

She spoke evenly, but let her telepathy drift across Jonelle's mind. There was a flash of annoyance when Tilaria refused Jonelle's offer, and Tilaria had a feeling Jonelle had just insulted her. If she had sensed it correctly then it had something to do with her clothes, or lack of them. Jonelle silently curtsied again and walked by her with Sefa following like a second shadow.

Fandral shook his head slightly when he court girls had left, and warned Tilaria. "Jonelle is beautiful but she can be a real bitch to girls she doesn't like."

Tilaria wasn't used to his wording, but understood his meaning. "I can survive a duel with Arlen, I can handle one Æsir. She didn't even have a blade."

"Only warriors carry blades." Fandral responded and started walking again. "She is a girl."

Tilaria stopped and touched the dagger at her side. "I am a girl."

Fandral paused and realized that although his comment would have been accepted by an Æsir, they were the wrong thing to say to an elf. "Yes, but I suppose you are an Elf. I only meant Æsir woman milady."

 _'Fighting is a man's job'_ his thoughts whispered.

"What?" Tilaria's ears twitched as her telepathy accidentally went too deep and she heard his actual thoughts rather than bare emotions.

"I suppose female elves are trained in combat," Fandral said quietly.

Tilaria sighed, realizing she had upset Fandral by accident. Females were treated as equals among the elves, yet here on Asgard they were secondary.

"I am glad that I was or else Arlen would have killed me, and I doubt I would have been able to survive the fight against Daris last month," Tilaria said quietly.

Technically speaking, she hadn't survived the civil war but he didn't need to know that. That would only complicate things.

"Pardon me," Tilaria said apologetically, "but I should speak to Frigga."

Fandral hesitated when Tilaria tipped her head to him and stood there like a moron as she walked back the way they had come. He sighed, realizing that although he knew how to get an Asgardian girl to smile he knew nothing about an elfin one. This would take some time.

Tilaria came back the way they had come and stood outside, overlooking the front lawn of Gladsheimr and the people crossing it in several directions as she thought about Asgard's environment. So far the Asgardians were living up to the reputation she had been raised with, but here at least the Asgardian soldiers weren't a threat to her.

After all, Arlen had dispatched eleven Star Guard by himself. They hadn't been in armor, but even then it had been far too easy. Arlen was stronger than she was, but the Asgard's troops obviously weren't well trained enough to challenge an elf.

Her telepathy whispered that there was another lifesign approaching, and Tilaria suspected it was Fandral as she lazily glanced over her shoulder. Tilaria hissed when she realized it was the queen, and the Allmother waved at her to approach. With a quiet sigh, she walked over silently, cloak rustling lightly in the crisp breeze.

"Milady Frigga," Tilaria bowed slightly.

Frigga smiled at her kindly and nodded as well. "I am surprised to see that Asgard's newest resident is all by herself. Do you wish to speak to my sons? Thor is with Hogun and Volstagg in the dining hall. Are you alright, child?"

Tilaria looked down at the grass that was beginning to turn brown, and gently grazed Frigga's thoughts. Frigga felt Tilaria touch her mind but gave no sign that she had felt it. The Heiress was only sensing emotions, not prying for her thoughts so she let her be. She was surprised to sense that Frigga's note of concern in her voice was genuine.

"I'm fine," She fibbed and brushing her hair behind her pointed ears.

Frigga decided to let her be. "Or if you rather, I believe Loki is in the library."

She added the note on Loki as an afterthought, and was surprised when Loki's name made Tilaria look up. Oh no, Frigga thought to herself in a smile. When the boys realized this things would get more interesting.

"Perhaps," Tilaria said evenly as if she had not responded to Loki. "Thank you, my Queen."

Tilaria bowed again, and Frigga nodded a dismissal.

As Tilaria began to walk away Frigga spoke up again, "One more thing Tilaria."

Tilaria stopped walking and turned to face her curiously.

"After you are settled, perhaps you could see me," Frigga offered. "You are a strong telepath, but you obviously do not know how to cloak your scan. As it is, any mage can sense your presence when you scan them."

Tilaria realized that her scan had been detected and bit her lip, color starting to rise to her cheeks and the tips of her ears.

"That is all," Frigga dismissed again.

Tilaria nearly bolted.

* * *

 **Poor Tilaria got caught red-handed, and she isn't off to the best start in more ways then one. How would you feel if you got put into an environment like Tilaria has since on Asgard woman are expected to be good housewives and mothers, and nothing more?**

 **I'm not sure if you've met Jonelle before, but she shows up on and off as a minor antagonist like Jaro. He's in my other stories, but you might now know him either... You'll get to meet him, rest assured. Yeah, there's something of a love triangle going on over Tilaria, but she's an elfin princess. Can you blame them?**

 **What do you think of Tilaria so far? Please comment in the review. She is an OC i want to be really good, so i would like your help with that.**


	4. Forbidden Grimoire

Tilaria was grateful for Frigga letting her off so easy, and she shook her head as she walked under an invisibility weave. She wasn't supposed to be scanning others, and it was lucky Frigga wasn't going to do anything to her. After walking for a few minutes down random hallways Tilaria realized that she didn't know where she was going.

She was fairly certain that she could find her way to the dining hall from here, but she wasn't really hungry. Maybe she could go to the library and look at Asgard's spread of magic books. Frigga had said Loki was there to, right? Maybe he could show her around the magic books.

Unfortunately, she'd never been to the library and didn't know how to get there. Although she was wary to do so after Frigga's scolding Tilaria decided to scan one of the servants passing by her on their way to do chores to get a layout of the palace. She was still invisible, so as a young servant her age with bright blonde hair and fluorescent blue eyes walked by her Tilaria reached out and brushed her fingers against the girl's temple delicately.

The girl she scanned stumbled when she took a step and winced. To her Tilaria's touch had to feel like an unexpected breeze and a slight headache. Tilaria closed her eyes as the girl continued to walk after looking around for a few seconds and shrugging. She inspected the new three-dimensional map in her mind's eye and nodded after a few seconds. It turned out that she had been walking in the right direction to get to the library after all.

Of course Frigga was a mage, Tilaria chided herself for not knowing better as she began to walk more defiantly towards the library. There was nothing to do but be more careful, obviously these Æsir were better than she gave them credit for. It would be dangerous if she underestimated Loki in the same way she had done to Frigga.

Tilaria walked to the east wing where the library was, and hovered outside the doorway. She sent out a senseline to gather information on the interior of the library instead of using telepathy, and her magic told her that there were only two people in there currently. One of them was likely the library's keeper, but the other one she recognized as being Loki.

Cautiously, Tilaria poked her head through the open double doors. She gasped when she saw the interior of the library. This room was much larger on the inside then the outside, but although it was a difficult charm it was a very common one so that didn't surprise her. What did surprise her was the library itself.

The main entrance lobby didn't have any books, and instead had a giant tree with nine branches and nine galaxies. Tilaria assumed that it was a model of Yggdrasil. Past the model tree were two staircases that led up to an upper landing where the bookcases were. There were more bookcases underneath the alcove, and a series of witchlights hovered around the bookcases randomly to augment the light brought in by the lightjewels and the roof that had been charmed to display the sky outside.

"Wow," Tilaria whispered and stepped inside.

She looked around, amazed by the model of Yggdrasil. This library looked smaller than the one on Alfheim, but Tilaria doubted that it was. There were almost undoubtedly charms to fit many bookcases into a small area. Once she entered the stacks she didn't doubt that she would find as many books as in Alfheim.

"Are you looking for something?" A kind voice said behind her.

Tilaria stopped staring, and turned to the source of the voice. It was an Æsir woman with long blonde hair and blue eyes, like many Æsir women. She wore a dark indigo dress with red trim, but her appearance was kind.

"I'm looking for Prince Loki," Tilaria said politely, "but I'm not sure where he is here. Who are you?"

"I am Saga," the woman introduced, "and I suppose you could call me the keeper of the library. If you are looking for the young mage them I'm sure he'll be in the magic books."

Saga pointed to the upper level towards the left side. "It's near the front, the four leftmost ones. That's where I usually find him. You better look up if you do though for he's usually on top of the stacks."

"The top," Tilaria smiled, "all right thank you."

Saga nodded and Tilaria walked quietly up the stairs. She was surprised that Saga hadn't complimented on the fact that Tilaria was an elf, but grateful at the same time. Tilaria went where Saga directed, and soon vanished inside the stacks. Magic runes were engraved onto the spines of the books in Magescript, magic's written form. It soon became apparent that Tilaria wasn't going to be able to easily find Loki, so she sent out another senseline and followed it.

Amid the stacks of books were tables set up in varying places, and Loki was sitting at one of them reading a book with a very intent look. Tilaria thought about calling out to him, but figured that her voice might be too startling and it would scare him out of the reality of the book and back into the real world.

Instead, she whispered to him telepathically, placing the thought without prying into his mind. *Loki.*

* * *

Loki stared at the book in front of him, not really seeing the words. He knew he should be focused on reading the book. It was from the forbidden section, and he wouldn't have long to read it before Saga or someone else came and he'd have to return it, but he couldn't focus on it.

Messing with his older brother was always fun, but Loki sighed at the thought of Fandral running off with Tilaria. Thor and Fandral were just old enough to start taking an interest in girls, and it seemed they were both interested in Tilaria. Loki didn't understand their point of view, but he knew that he would like to be friends with Tilaria. Her blood magic was dangerous, but at the same time powerful and Loki had a feeling she'd be a good friend if he could earn her trust.

He wasn't sure what would happen now that Fandral had gotten involved however. Although he was young, all the girls Fandral's age seemed to swoon over him. Loki didn't understand that either, but he wished that Jonelle would be one of the ones that followed Fandral around. Instead, that brat was forever following _him_ around for _whatever_ reason and Loki really didn't care for her.

Girls, Asgard's girls at least, rarely said anything useful and the ones of noble birth who lived at court were particularly bad. Lorelei and Amora were real people at least instead of dressed-up dolls trying to get power by attaching themselves t someone in power like Jonelle was doing to him. If they weren't doing that then they were far too busy gossiping in whispery hisses and laughing in soft giggles.

It had seemed to Loki that Tilaria wasn't like that, and since she hadn't been raised on Asgard she probably like that. If she had been raised on Asgard then Loki would never consider having her as close friend, but as it was he figured she might be a good friend. Loki turned the page of the book he was reading and made a face. Girls, they always gave him a headache one way or another. He figured that if he had to deal with one more girl he was going to throw one of his blades.

That was the moment when he heard a girl say his name softly. He was so distracted that he didn't realize the voice was telepathically and instantly assumed it was Jonelle yet again. The throwing blade he kept hidden in the underside of his right bracer fell into his palm.

Someone stepped around a bookcase near him, and Loki whipped around and threw the blade in his palm without looking to see who his target was first. The girl gave a start when the blade embedded itself into the edge of the bookcase near her left eye, and Loki was surprised to hear the sound of a blade leaving its scabbard.

Jonelle didn't carry a blade, and he would have expecting her to give at least a little scream when he threw his blade at her. He curiously turned around in his chair a little more fully and realized that it wasn't Jonelle he had attacked, but Tilaria. Loki stuttered softly when Tilaria reached up with her hand that she had not drawn her dagger with and pulled Loki's blade from the bookcase.

"A little wide if you were aiming for me," Tilaria told Loki in what could have been a scolding tone.

She held the two daggers, and shifted her weight back warily as if expecting to be attacked by him like Arlen had done to her last month.

"Tilaria," Loki's jaw dropped. "I – I tho, thought you were someone else."

Tilaria didn't look impressed by his stuttered excuse. "So your Star Guard are always drunk, and Asgard's Princes are going around throwing blades at people. A very civilized realm. You're living up to the stories I've heard on Alfheim so far."

"The-There's a girl named Jonelle," Loki tried to explain. "I thought you were her. I wasn't going to hit her, just, just get close. She's been pestering me and I wanted to scare her away."

"Interesting way to deal with someone." Tilaria commented, but she seemed to accept his explanation because she offered his blade.

It rested in her open palm and she stared at it. After a moment it started hovering and going over to Loki. Tilaria lowered her hand and bit her lip, and Loki didn't move as the blade levitated closer to him. When his blade was midway between the two of them her magic slipped and it fell to the ground. Loki caught it magically an inch from the ground and brought it back to his hand without any trouble.

Tilaria was surprised by the ease of his movement and Loki slipped the throwing dagger back into his bracer where it belonged.

"I don't have any true telepathic skill, but I am telekinetic. It's not as easy for me as using my ice, but I can manage." He explained quietly and lowered his hand from his bracer where the dagger was now secured once more out of sight.

The two stood staring at each other for a moment before Tilaria broke the awkward silence. "You seem to have natural talent with your ice, yet Odin seems to rather you not use your skills. Why is that?"

Loki sighed, wishing Tilaria had picked almost any other subject to mention except that one. "It's a long story. The short version – I lost control of it once, and it ended badly."

Loki's emerald eyes turned distant as he got tangled up in the memory, and the memory was traumatic enough that he lowered his guard. This allowed Tilaria to catch an image of Asgard's throne room covered in swirling snow and giant icicles. She instantly saw the problem for in the memory the snow was red, and Loki was kneeling beside Thor's limp body. He was frantically trying to use healing magic on his brother as the red stain on the snow continued to grow.

The memory made it clear enough to Tilaria what had happened. She wondered why she hadn't just gone to the dining hall after all because Loki's body language and the subdued purr of his magic made it clear he wasn't in the mood for company.

"I thought you were with Fandral." Loki asked curiously before she could back away, trying to distract himself from the memory.

"I was, but he, he is different than the boys on Alfheim," Tilaria remembered his disdain when Fandral mentioned that a woman shouldn't have a blade darkly. "I also met someone named Jonelle, probably the same one you wanted to scare. She's… hostile."

Loki snorted in a very un-princely like manner, and rolled his eyes. "Her father Akir is head of Asgard trade and internal affairs so she thinks she has rights to anything she wants, but she's mostly just a pest. The only reason she tries to cling to me is because I'm one of Asgard's princes. I wish she would leave me alone."

"Well if you greet her as you did me she just might." Tilaria mused with a glance to the gash in the wood where Loki's throwing blade had been embedded.

"That's the hope," Loki hung his head, "but she'll just go to her father and Akir will tell Odin, so I'll end up in trouble again."

"I got the impression that you're used to being in trouble, and causing it," Tilaria offered. "Am I wrong?"

"No," Loki admitted with a knife-like smile and raised his head. "You're not."

Tilaria's magic echoed off the spells in the book, and Tilaria finally realized why the book Loki was reading had made her magic ring.

"What are you looking at?" She asked casually as she walked closer to Loki and his book. "Is that a grimoire with some new spells to learn?"

"Old ones more than anything," Loki dodged and waved his hand, magically closing the book before Tilaria could see what was inside.

The movement was not fast enough, and she hissed softly when she saw the runes on the pages. "Why are you reading a book with blood magic in it? It is forbidden for a reason."

"You don't seem to mind using it," Loki defended, "and it is still magic. If I want to be the greatest sorcerer in the Nine Realms then I need to know about forbidden magics considering that if I ever fight a Dark mage they'll probably be using blood or something like it, right?"

"The reason so many blood mages are as you call them ' _Dark Mages'_ is because extended use of blood magic for most people destroys their sanity," Tilaria warned. "The very use of it damages their soul. I can use it because I was naturally born with the ability to manipulate blood, but someone trying to harness it artificially will only suffer."

Loki's eyes darkened at the scolding and he looked away back to the book again. The air became awkward again, but a distraction showed up before long and ran up the stairs to where Loki and Tilaria were.

"Brother!" Thor exclaimed when he caught sight of Loki sitting there. "I knew you would be in here!"

Both Loki and Tilaria looked towards him and saw Thor standing near a bookcase, his blonde hair a mess and his sapphire eyes sparkling. Thor was surprised to see Tilaria with him, and he waved enthusiastically at her instead of trying to be a gentleman as Fandral had. Tilaria kept her telepathy to herself and nodded, better prepared to deal with Thor's energetic personality then Fandral's flattery.

Loki curiously leaned over the table slightly, and he smiled mischievously again at what he saw. "I see you got your boots back on. Let me guess, mother undid my hex."

"She did not!" Thor shot back in a bluff. "I conquered your knot myself."

Loki eyed him in disbelieving amusement. "Unless you're a mage all of a sudden, mother did it. It should still be an hour before my hex faded."

Thor glowered at his brother's point and changed the subject. "It is almost lunch time. If you stay in here much longer you will miss it."

"Ah," Loki mused in light humor. "You're working on the assumption that Volstagg hasn't already eaten everything."

"Are you hungry?" Thor asked Tilaria in the same bright manner as before, seemingly unaware of how askew his appearance was.

"I suppose I could eat something," Tilaria admitted, "Loki?"

"I'll catch up," Loki promised and picked up the book on blood magic.

He needed to return the forbidden book before someone realized it was gone. Tilaria nodded acceptance and walked out of the stacks and down the steps with Thor. Once their footsteps began to fade, Loki went to the back of the library where the magic books were and levitated his book back up to it. If Tilaria could master blood magic then he figured he could to. After all, what was the worst that could happen?

* * *

 **Loki isn't quite old enough to understand his brother's attraction to girls and it's cute. He innocently wants to get closer to Tilaria so he can learn her type of magic even though learning forbidden magic is not the safest idea. As if that will stop Loki though.**

 **Tilaria really likes using her telepathy too much.**


	5. On Guard

Sif stared at her lunch as if daring it to do something that same day. Fandral sat to her left, looking in his mirror with an upset expression. It seemed to her that he had misspoken around Tilaria and hadn't made the best impression. Volstagg was already working on his second piece of chicken, unbothered by Fandral's moodiness by Hogun was quieter then usual as if there was something on his mind.

It didn't take a genius to guess that Tilaria was also bothering Hogun. It could be simply because she was another royal from another realm visiting Asgard as he was, but Sif doubted that was the whole story. Tilaria had barely been here for an hour and it was truly astonishing to Sif the degree that she was interfering with life at Gladsheimr.

At first Sif had been glad that there was going to be another girl here who was skilled in blades, but she had heard some very dark things about what Tilaria had done during and before the Ljósálfr's most recent civil war. Tilaria appeared now, walking into the dining hall beside Thor. That really irked Sif, as if the vixen was trying to cloud the minds of all of Sif's friends.

Hogun nodded hello to her and Volstagg said it with a mouth full, earning him a disapproving look from Hogun for talking with his mouth full.

"Milady," Fandral greeted Tilaria honorably, trying to undo the damage he had done earlier.

Sif ignored them all, and Tilaria. Tilaria respectfully said hello to them, but she hesitated near the door. Thor sat down and was surprised when he realized that Tilaria wasn't next to him. He turned around and looked at her curiously.

Tilaria telepathically sense Loki walk up behind her although his step was so silent that she was still surprised when he spoke to her, and asked politely. "Are you going to eat something?"

Although Tilaria's last visit to Asgard has lasted three day, she had spent most of that time in the Healer's Ward and had yet to eat with all of companions other than the welcome feast when she and Arlen had first arrived. She didn't count that as actually eating with them though. Tilaria nodded at Loki and walked with him to the table, sitting on Thor's right. Loki sat to her right so she was now between the princes.

Tilaria curiously picked up her mug and took a sip of it, smiling at the taste of creamy milk.

"So Tilaria," Sif started while Tilaria took a sip.

Tilaria looked over the rim of her mug curiously, and lowered it back to the table.

"Let me see if I understand this right." Sif tapped her spoon on the table, letting her soup cool. "Queen Anastasia and King Hallien adopted you when you were a babe. Sometime after that, they had Eragon and Anastasia died soon afterward. Eragon is now the light elves heir."

Tilaria nodded that Sif was correct, but didn't like the tone of her voice.

"Allfather has now agreed to Hallien's idea that you be fostered here because your mother was Æsir like us," Sif said in a voice that was more of a question then a comment.

"Yes," Tilaria agreed, and because she hadn't left Hallien much of a choice.

"Is that the only reason?" Sif probed. "Because you're a Halfling?"

"I like Asgard," Tilaria said carefully, "but I didn't get to see much of it last time because of Arlen. What I did see though is that it's nothing like Alfheim, and I mean that as a compliment."

"So… It wasn't because you killed a few dozen innocents and the elves deemed you a threat to security." Sif casually threw down her ace in a manner of speaking.

"Sif!" Thor hissed.

Tilaria tensed, amazed that Sif knew in that much detail what had happened on Alfheim.

"It is an honest question." Sif shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.

"Where did you hear that?" Loki asked in a dubious and disrespectful voice. "Jonelle and her girls? I thought you had better things to do then partake in idle chatter. Did you even finish your homework?"

"Yes I finished it and no, not from Jonelle." Sif waved her spoon and continued. "I also heard she tried to assassinate Hallien over a century ago, and that's the real reason why Arlen tried to kill her."

Thor realized that Tilaria seemed distressed and warned Sif to "stop it."

"She also uses blood magic, which works only when she kills others," Sif pointed out. "That's forbidden, and it was her who started Alfheim's civil war, not Daris."

"ENOUGH SIF!" Thor ordered loudly as if he were Odin demanding silence in court.

Sif scowled at Thor's frustration, not meaning to upset the prince but hardly surprised that he had jumped to Tilaria's aid. Tilaria had ducked her head, and her hand rested on the spoon she had been about to pick up.

Sif pointed her spoon at Tilaria like it was a Dark Elven disruptor triumphantly and demanded, "well?"

Loki beat Thor to the reprimand when he threw his spoon at Sif. The handle hit Sif's hand perfectly, and Sif dropped her spoon onto her plate with a clatter.

"Ow!" Sif jumped in her seat and waved her hand, the back of it now red from Loki's throw.

Loki met her scything glare solidly. He knew that Tilaria had killed Arlen, and that she used blood magic. Although rumors abounded over the subject of Alfheim's civil war nothing was known for certain about it other than that Daris was a traitor, he had tried to kill Eragon and Hallien, and had escaped.

"Hallien was going to have me executed for killing Arlen," Tilaria said quietly. "As soon as the Bifrost dropped me off at Alfheim we fought."

The princes and the other children looked at each other and then at Tilaria in surprise by her words.

Tilaria took a breath to calm her heartbeat before her magic acted on its own and raised her head strongly. "Hallien beat me, but I escaped his _trial_ later on with my blood magic. If the Immortal Guard had stepped back instead of trying to recapture me, they would still be alive. It was during that skirmish that Hallien began to suspect Daris was dabbling in forbidden magic, so I suppose in a way I did start the civil war."

Sif frowned at her, surprised that she was admitting all of this. "So why did you try and kill Hallien?"

"I didn't," Tilaria lied with another hiss. "If I had _tried_ , then he _would_ be dead."

Something about the surety of her tone made Loki's skin crawl, and he accounted it to her blood magic. Blood magic was arcane, and like all arcane, the more of it you used the more powerful you felt. The more addicted you would become to it, and the more of your sanity was destroyed as you began to love killing more and more. It was a vicious circle.

"Pardon me," Tilaria hissed as she stood up while Sif continued to glare at her. "I seem to have lost my appetite."

She left her untouched lunch and stormed out of the dining room.

"Nice one Sif," Fandral muttered, and viciously stabbing his soup with his spoon.

"That was harsh," Volstagg said around a full mouth.

"Shut up," Sif spat at them.

Hogun surprised everyone when he spoke up. "Elves are different from us. They truly despise half-breeds, and she has just been through a war. A war she did kill in. You should not judge her so harshly."

Everyone stared at him. He had just said more in two minutes then he usually did in two days. Hogun glanced at them and went back to eating.

Sif looked at them, perplexed. "Why is everyone taking her side?"

Unnoticed, Loki slipped from his chair and chased after Tilaria.

"Tilaria!" He called out once he had put some distance between himself and the dining hall.

Tilaria didn't stop walking. Her movements were sharp and exact, her hands bunched into fists.

"Tilaria!" Loki called out again and increased his pace to close the distance to her.

"What?" She stopped so suddenly Loki had to teleport in front of her to keep from walking into her.

"So," she started just as Sif had. "Got any more accusations to make? You already know I'm a blood mage."

"Sakat," Loki said instead, waving his hand.

The sounds of distant voices and clattering dishes of the dining hall faded to silence. Now they could talk privately.

"Do you want me to make more accusations?" Loki demanded, "Because I can. Sif missed a few rumors."

Tilaria bared her fangs, surprisingly long and pointed, and hissed.

"Did you really kill?" Loki whispered.

"Yes," Tilaria answered impatiently. "Yes I killed eight Immortal Guard. I tore one apart so you could not recognize that he used to be elfin in an effort to get at his blood, and broke every bone in another's body. When reinforcements came, I killed some of them to, striped the flesh straight from their bones. That is blood magic, and I couldn't use any other magic with restrainer cuffs so I used it. That is just the start. Daris used blood when he tried his coup so I had to as well to protect Eragon."

Loki was startled by how vicious Tilaria spoke, but did not miss the fact that she said to protect Eragon. Just like Loki would use forbidden magic if he needed to keep Thor safe, so Tilaria would do the same from Tilaria. That part Loki understood perfectly.

"I can't say anything," Loki responded in a soft voice, "because I don't know what happened during that war. I don't know what situation you were in or your reasons, so it would be wrong for me to assume I do and judge you. I've used forbidden magic to because the situation called for it."

Tilaria glanced at Loki at his admission and then looked away. Oh suns, she wasn't supposed to be telling Loki about the war. Her condition with Hallien was that the Æsir stayed in the dark, and now Loki was saying that he understood. There was no way a pampered prince like him would understand what it had been like for her growing up as a despised half-breed, alienated even worse than the Ljósálfr born with black hair.

Loki was about to say something else when his right ear started to ring, alerting him that someone was approaching the soundproof dome he had put into place around himself and Tilaria. His magic warned him that it was Sif, and she wasn't happy.

"Einca na." Loki whispered the generic counter charm, dissolving the soundproof spell. "Sif is coming."

Tilaria made a hmph sound, but made no move to leave. Loki realized that Tilaria might want a fight, and realized also that it would be a bad idea. Thor would get mad at him if he let Sif get hurt, so he stepped forward and set his hand on her shoulder without first asking. When he did so, Tilaria made a move to swat his hand aside and break the contact, but his teleportation had already set and her nerves froze as the two of them disappeared in a swirl of emerald sparkles.

When Sif stomped around the corner muttering about how those idiotic boys couldn't see that Tilaria was trouble, she didn't even slow down.

Loki wasn't aware of the fact however when the teleport dropped them off in an empty hallway. With her nerves free, Tilaria swatted Loki's hand aside and stepped away sharply. She looked around warily, but seemed to realize that she was in no danger.

"Why did you do that?" She demanded Loki, "and where did you take me?"

"If you hurt Sif Thor's going to get mad at me because I was right there and didn't stop you first of all," Loki answered. "Second, this is the ambassadorial wing. I sometimes teleport here because this wing is empty, so I know I won't materialize next to someone and scare them out of their boots. That actually happened one time, kind of a funny story…"

Tilaria didn't seem aware of his comment about the story and looked around. "These are the rooms Odin spoke of?"

"Yeah," Loki straightened out of the slouch he had adopted accidently. "I can unlock all the doors so you can look around and pick out a room you like. I'm also going to have to remember that I can't keep coming here since someone's going to be living here."

Loki used his rank as Asgard's prince to unlock all the rooms filled with expensive silks and other things so Tilaria could look around.

"Most of the rooms are connected with another so the ambassador can stay close to his escort, but they can be sued for a single person," Loki explained. "The rooms closer to us are fancier then those further away, but I don't know if you want one with all the fluff and frills that some of them have. Where's your stuff?"

"My what?" Tilaria asked blankly, and then realized what Loki meant.

She closed her eyes and a tan satchel materialized on her right shoulder in a flurry of fuchsia glitter.

"Is all of your stuff in that one bag?" Loki asked in amazement.

"Yes," Tilaria said defensivly. "It's got an expansion charm so it's larger inside. Why?"

"Most girls, from what I've seen, have a lot of luggage and makeup and jewelry and stuff." Loki replied in the innocent manner befitting one of his age.

"Elves don't typically wear jewelry unless it's a flashpiece, and I've seen some of the Æsir around here with makeup, but I don't know what it is very well." Tilaria replied shyly, aware that her knowledge was minimal compared to most.

"Do you mean flashpiece as in an amulet to store magic?" Loki asked, "And flash as slang for Seidr?"

Tilaria nodded. "I suppose that is Eladrin terminology, so I wouldn't expect you to know about it."

Loki nodded to himself as he thought over her words and then straightened. "Well, how about we look around for a room you'd like?"

"You'll miss lunch," Tilaria reminded him.

Loki shrugged, "I can always steal something. There's this kitchen maid named Jeanne who helps me smuggle out snacks all the time."

"All right," Tilaria said dubiously and adjusted the way her satchel sat on her shoulder so it wasn't about to fall off. "If you insist."

* * *

 **Tilaria is not a bad guy, but she's not really a good guy. More of an anti-hero/possible supervillain then anything. Sif has good instincts to be wary of her. Don't forget though that Tilaria's been through a war, died, and technically she's only about 12 or 13 by human time. A human her age going through all that would have a cloudy hue as well.**

 **Sif's accusations, even if they're technically right, are pushing Tilaria's patience and emotional control to the breaking point. Rather, as the story says, she's being pushed to the shatterpoint. You will hear more of shatterpoints later and understand why this story is named after them.**

 ***(Cloudy hue,** ** _Psyco-Pass_** **reference. Anyone get it? If not you should watch it, it's an amazing cop, sci-fi anime.)***


	6. Daris's Spy

All of the rooms in the ambassadorial wing, Tilaria realized quickly enough, followed Asgard's main architectural pattern of having way too much gold. She was surprised when Loki agreed with her, and the two of them checked out the rooms one at a time to try and find one that was only mildly stifling with luxury.

After a while, they found one meant for the ambassador's aid that could be salvaged from the overabundant amount of luxury, and Tilaria put her satchel down on the canopy bed and hopped onto it. The silk sheets were soft and it felt to her like the mattress was stuffed with soft goose down. It was softer than her bed on Alfheim for certain.

Loki gave a start as if something invisible had just bit him and Tilaria raised a hand to her chest level palmdown with the fingers curled so she could charge a spell quickly. Her movement made Loki smile and he waved her down. It seemed that Thor had gone looking for Loki when he hadn't returned to lunch and was now hovering outside his room.

Tilaria did a time spell, and was surprised to find that an hour had already passed since lunch. It didn't feel to her that too much time had passed. Loki decided that he had better check in on Thor, and advised split telling Tilaria that it would probably be best is she didn't wait up for him. She nodded goodbye and sat up in the bed once he left.

Although Tilaria had found one room she liked, she still hadn't finished looking through all of the suites in the wing. With that in mind, she left the door to the room her satchel was in open and continued inspecting the rooms. It took another half hour to finish searching, and Tilaria decided that she liked the first room she had found best.

She headed back to the room to unpack her things from her satchel, and was surprised to see that the door was wide open where she had left it mostly closed. Wary, she reached out telepathically, aware that a senseline might give her presence away if the intruder was a mage. There was someone inside moving about the room, and Tilaria waited until their back was to her before slipping inside and pouncing on them. When Arlen had attacked her she had been caught off guard, and she was not going to let that happen again.

She swept behind the intruder and grabbed the back of his tunic with one hand, yanking his head back as she set her dagger under his chin. Her captive gave a shriek that dissolved into an eep, and Tilaria realized that her intruder was a she instead of a he. Tilaria recognized this girl now as the servant she had scanned for a map of the palace earlier, but the knowledge that it was a girl wasn't enough to make her lower blade and release her.

"Please," the girl whispered.

"Who are you precisely?" Tilaria asked the servant in a low voice, "and what are you doing in my room."

"I am your maid," the girl exclaimed.

Tilaria was so surprised by the girl's declaration that she released her and walked around to face her directly. "My what?"

"Your maid," the girl repeated, "Frigga assigned me to you. I know that you are going to pick out quarters for yourself here in the wing, and I wanted to clean up your room a little. When I saw the door to this room open I assumed that this was to be your room."

Tilaria glanced over at the satchel she had left, but it had not been touched. That was lucky for the intruder.

"It is," Tilaria assured the girl seriously, "but I hardly need a maid. Like all mages, I can pick up after myself."

"You don't want me to help you?" The girl asked in confusion.

Tilaria's magic and her telepathy were warning her that this girl was no threat and had no ill intentions, so she sheathed her dagger back to her side and wished yet again she had a saber. Daris had taught her how to use a saber, but she simply didn't have one of her own.

"No," Tilaria answered simply. As she tried to think of a way to make the maid leave, she thought back to Loki. "Does Prince Loki have a maid?"

"No," the girl admitted, "it's dangerous to go into his room when he's not around with his security spells."

"You should consider my room the same," Tilaria warned the girl in what she hoped was a dismissive voice.

She made a note to put up some security spells of her own once her visitor left.

The girl didn't take the hint and leave though. "Is this to be your room from now on?"

"Yes," Tilaria relented.

"Can I at least tidy up around here today?" The girl asked Tilaria. "This room has been empty, and is hardly ready for occupancy."

It wasn't that big of a deal to Tilaria, but she didn't think the girl would go away unless she was able to do something. "Fine. What's your name anyway?"

"Azura," Azura bowed.

"What?" Tilaria sighed and turned away to walk to her satchel. "I thought Æsir had a father's name. You don't have one?"

"I don't know who my father was," the girl said softly.

Tilaria stopped walking to the canopy and sighed. Obviously she had hit on a touchy subject accidently.

"That makes two of us," Tilaria assured Azura by way of an apology.

Normally, if the father's name couldn't be used then the mother's name became an Æsir's last name. Azura hadn't used a mother's name either though, and Tilaria guessed she didn't know her mother's name either. That was something else they had in common.

"If you're going to fix up my room then now is your chance to do so." Tilaria told Azura briskly, unsure what to say to make up for her verbal blunder and deciding to simply change the subject.

Azura tipped her head and began to walk around the room Tilaria had claimed, and left to fetch fresh sheets and wood for the fireplace. Tilaria let her go wordlessly, and started taking things out of her satchel.

Loki never did make it back to Tilaria's room to help her finish searching for a room thanks to Thor, and later that day Thor suggested that the children take some tents and go camping in the forest. This would likely be one of their last chances before it became too cold to do so comfortably. After a quick scolding from Loki saying that they shouldn't go without telling anyone, and that his magic said it would storm tonight, Thor dropped the idea.

The sun had set now, and an icy wind howled around the palace from one of the first cold fronts of the season moving through. An icy drenching rain began to pour from the clouds, and the wind made it blow almost sideways. Thor was now glad that he had listened to Loki and stayed indoors although he still wished Loki had told him where Tilaria had gone.

Thor stood just inside his room behind his balcony doors and watched the rain fall. It was so thick that Thor could hardly see to the end of his balcony, even with the lights inside his room off. The storm tonight had only rain and no lightning, so Thor didn't bother to go outside into it like he would otherwise. Even inside however, he still relished in the power hidden in the clouds that he could feel thanks to his bond with Mjölnir.

"One day," Thor whispered to himself as he watched the rain fall. "One day I will wield Mjölnir, and I will become the God of Storms."

He knew sadly that that day was not today, and likely would not come until he was much older and had proven himself to Mjolnir that he was worthy of its power. Thor didn't move from the doors however, and watched the storm in the dark.

As usual, Thor had left his door open, and he was too entranced by the storm to notice that something was watching him. It was a shade, a construct of shadow made from a high ranking shadow mage, and it was annoyed. Although the shade had managed to locate Thor, it had yet to find its real target.

The mage controlling the construct tensed when they realized that someone was coming, and the shade melted into the shadows of the hallway by its command. It was done none too soon because that was the moment when Loki opened the door to his room. He had just finished taking a short shower, and his black locks were still wet although dried to the point that they weren't dripping. Loki planned to check in on Thor to make sure he wasn't mad at him for hiding Tilaria's location so she could unpack in peace.

Although the lights in his brother's room were off, he could sense that Thor was still awake and no doubt watching the storm. Loki stopped at the doorway to Thor's room when he felt an echo of magic. A mage or something like a mage had been here, and Loki knew it couldn't be Thor. It didn't feel like any of the mages here at court, and Loki warily remembered that Daris was still at large. He was a mage.

Loki's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of glass shattering from within Thor's room, and he gave a start. Still thinking about Daris, he ran inside Thor's room and stared at the scene before him. Thor had somehow managed to crash through the doors of his balcony and was now lying out on it in the rain. There was glass everywhere.

"Thor!" Loki called out to him, checking that there was no intruder rapidly.

Thor waved a hand in the air without sitting up, "Present."

Loki stared at him, and then sighed deeply. There was no intruder, which meant Thor had just outdone himself yet again on the scale of ungracefulness. He walked up to the balcony where Thor was, relishing in the chilly breeze that now swirled about the room.

Once the mage realized that Loki's attention was diverted they warily informed their shade to return, and the construct separated itself from the shadows and took on three-dimensional form again. The target was still nowhere to be seen, and that irked the shadow mage. Their annoyance was made worse when they realized there were two more beings coming. With a sigh of irritation, the mage made their shade vanish once more.

The mage tensed when they saw that it was Tilaria and a servant girl who had come walking to the prince's quarters. Tilaria thanked Azura for guiding her to the prince's rooms, and Azura left with a curtsey. Azura walked away while Tilaria noticed that Thor's door was open and approached. She peered into Thor's dark room, and took in the scene in front of her just as Loki had not long ago.

Thor had moved from the balcony, and was sitting against the wall. Loki was standing beside his brother, inspecting the shattered balcony door as rain poured inside. Both of them were soaking wet, and there was a brisk autumn breeze circulating through the room. Tilaria pulled her cloak closer to her form and stepped inside.

Thor spotted her before she could say anything and called out cheerfully, "hi Tilaria!"

Loki glanced over a shoulder briefly when he saw Tilaria, and magically turned on the lights in Thor's room so he could see the door better. He technically didn't need to turn on the lights because his eyes were quite sensitive to the dark. Although Loki couldn't see in pitch darkness he could see quite well in twilight gloom, better than he could see on a brilliantly sunny day where the brightness made his eyes sting.

There was the slight scent of blood in the air, and Tilaria forced herself to walk forward despite the iron tang the wind was circulating. With the lights on she could see that the blood came from Thor and he was still covered in glass. She wasn't scared of the scent of blood, quite the opposite. Her stomach growled, and Tilaria began to wish that she had gotten dinner instead of dismissing Azura without telling her to bring a meal.

"What happened?" She asked cautiously.

"This oaf," Loki jerked a thumb at Thor, "tripped over his boot and went through the door. I have no idea how he managed it. He says he was too busy watching the storm."

Thor looked between Tilaria and Loki shyly and held out his hands, silently asking Loki to help him with the glass. Loki sighed elaborately and bent down next to his brother, curling his fingers to his palm to charge his healing magic. A soothing mist like aura of healing magic soon glowed around the tips of his fingers and Loki traced the gash on Thor's forehead.

Outside the room, the mage dared to rematerialize their shade and look again. It was indeed Tilaria, just like the informers on Alfheim had said she had moved to Asgard. The mage finally dissolved their shade before one of the two mages within the room noticed it with a satisfied yet sad voice. Depending on Daris's next orders, the mage would have to either kill or capture Tilaria. It would depend on what Daris said when the mage confirmed that she was indeed on Asgard.

The mages within the room were unaware of the danger that had just passed them by working under Daris's command, and focused on damage control. While Loki checked over Thor to make sure he was fine, Tilaria raised a hand to the damaged doorframe of wood and glass and whispered a basic reconstruction spell.

The scattered glass and wood from the balcony door floated off the ground and reassembled themselves like a jigsaw puzzle. Seams from where they had been broken healed without leaving a trace, and Thor winced as some of the glass crept out of his wounds. Tilaria cleaned the red from the fragments, and the wind began to die down as the door reassembled itself.

Once the door was reassembled Loki froze the water on the floor into ice without looking away from Thor, and then dismissed it into water vapor. Tilaria nodded at him, and Loki smiled a little in return. He and Thor stood, and Thor shook himself to try and get some of the water off of himself. Loki used a charm to dry himself, and Thor scowled at him when he did so.

"I don't know how to cast that charm on another person," Loki apologized when he didn't dry Thor off. "You're just going to have to take a bath, and soon before mother sees how bloody you are."

Thor paled a little when he looked down and saw the blood on his tunic. It wasn't much, but it was enough for his mother to scold him. He nodded agreement, and Loki helped shoo Thor towards the bathroom.

Tilaria took her leave, deciding to leave Thor to Loki and head back to her room. This trip had been short, but now at least she knew where the prince's rooms were and she was sure she could find them again. She was cold from the wind, bitterly so. Ljósálfr didn't experience cold, and so they had no tolerance to it. Ever since she had died during the civil war against Daris though, her tolerance to the cold had been lower than before. Perhaps when Hel had resurrected her, she had accidently brought her back wrong.

Tilaria admitted that was a possibility, but was so busy with her thoughts that she walked right past where the shade had been without noticing the echo from its presence. Neither she, nor the princes realized that Daris was already making his next move, and they would come to regret not knowing soon enough.

* * *

 **Yep, Daris is not going to stay quiet much longer. He's got a spy on Asgard, and things are going to get very insane very quickly before long. The spy has to report back to Daris and get new orders, but that won't be much of a delay all things considered. No one even knows there's a problem. Daris has the element of surprise and that's going to give him a disastrous advantage.**

 **As for Azura, she's just a filler character more then anything right now. I don't believe that the princes, their friends, and Odin and Frigga are the only people on Asgad so there are a lot of little filler OC. Don't worry if you can't keep them all straight. Some of them are important, but not all. You'll be able to tell which filler's are important to the plot.**


	7. Early Birds

Azura hadn't come back to Tilaria's room since she had led her to the prince's rooms last night. Tilaria supposed that Azura had taken her warning to stay out of her room to heart, and that was better for Azura. As Tilaria gained awareness and woke up the spells that had been in place to keep her safe as she slept shut down. Although Tilaria had only had time to place a basic spell that would wake her up of someone entered and a charm to enforce the locks around the door and balcony, Tilaria knew she would have to reinforce the spells and place the rest of them soon.

Tilaria slipped out of bed and made it up with a flick of her hand. She padded barefoot to the closet where her clothes were and changed from her nightgown into her day clothes, and checked her blades. Six small three-point throwing shards were in her left bracer, and there was a slim dirk and her lockpicks in the right bracer. Her dagger was on her side and a few blades were hidden in subspace that she could materialize if she needed to. If only she had a saber she would feel so much better, but would make do with the small knives.

To store her magic she wore a plain copper band on her left wrist that was embedded with a few quartz jewels, and she now put it on her wrist. She made a note to look around Asgard and see if she could find a better flashpiece then the band, and ran her fingers through her hair to magically comb out the tangles that had appeared after sleeping. Once she was dressed Tilaria put on her slippers as she walked to the desk in the center of the room where she had left her satchel.

She opened her satchel. It was empty since she had unpacked all of her things already. Tilaria knew that it was not really empty though, and she bit her thumb. A drop of blood ran down her finger and fell into the satchel as Tilaria whispered the countercharm. This was a special blood veil that could only be broken by her blood. As the invisibility veil dropped the grimoire Hallien had given her appeared.

She withdrew Daris's grimoire of blood magic from the satchel and gazed at the inverted five-point star on the cover, the symbol for blood magic. Tilaria trailed her fingers on its spine, and they tingled from the amount of power contained within the leather covers of the little brown book. Although she had been given the grimoire several days ago she had yet to actually open it, and it seemed she still wasn't able to open it.

It irritated her that she always stopped. This book had the secret of blood, and supposedly even had the secrets of Fel, a type of forbidden magic even more powerful and dangerous then blood. If she read the book then she would learn the power of Fel. The power she could have was astounding, but she could never bring herself to learn the secret of Fel, the most forbidden and destructive of all magic.

She shook her head in irritation, and walked over to sit in front of the fireplace. A fire crackled there merrily, charmed so embers wouldn't fly out of it, and she enjoyed the warmth. The secret of Fel was literally in her hands, but she was too weak-willed to open the book and read.

Tilaria tssked, and threw down the book by the fireplace. The corners of it bounced against a few of the tiles loudly, and the pitch of the sound as it bounced off the tiles altered as it bounced against one. It wasn't a change of pitch that an Æsir could hear, but Tilaria did.

She frowned when she heard the pitch change. One of the pitches was higher as if the space underneath it was hallowed out. Tilaria reached over and rapped her knuckles against the tiles at the edge of the fireplace. The echo of one tile changed in pitch again, and Tilaria was now sure that one was hallow.

Curious, she drew her dagger at her waist and ran it along the tile's edges. Her dagger caught on something. Tilaria held her breath as she used her dagger as a lever to lift the tile up. The hallow under the tile was disappointingly empty, and Tilaria physically traced it with her fingers to be sure there wasn't something under an invisibility weave. There didn't seem to be.

As Tilaria traced the hallow in the floor, an idea formed over what she should do with the grimoire. Tilaria used her magic to make the hallow a little bigger, and then set the grimoire in there and covered it with the tile. It fit, and she smiled. This would be an easier place to hide the grimoire then in her satchel.

She bit her finger again and a few drops of blood fell onto the grimoire's cover. Her lips moved as she recreated the veil over the grimoire just like the one in the satchel. Now no one could see it but her. Feeling better leaving it behind, she put the tile over it again and stood. It was time for breakfast, and she was hungry.

* * *

While Tilaria was already walking down the halls to the dining hall, Thor was still sound asleep dreaming of a certain Halfling. In his dream, he had just saved Tilaria from some of those monstrous Jötnar and Tilaria was leaning in to kiss her hero when something heavy landed on his chest and dragged him from the dream a few seconds too early. Thor jolted form his bed, still only partially awake and fell from his bed with the thing that had jumped on him.

"Hey!" Loki shouted as Thor landed on top of him. "Thor you oaf, get off me!"

Thor's red blanket drifted down to land on top of both Princes, more so because it could then anything Thor suspected. Thor got off his brother and dragged the blanket off his head. The static electricity made his hair stand on end.

"Thor…" Loki started, but burst out into laughter when he saw Thor's hair.

Thor looked and must have realized something about it was wrong because he scowled and tried to smooth his hair. It wasn't working.

"Try sticking your head under the sink." Loki suggested, not at all being serious. "And you do know that you've almost missed breakfast?"

Thor rubbed his sleep worn eyes and looked closer at his brother. Loki was already dressed, with his daggers on his side and in his normal emerald tunic and black pants. The fact that Loki was already dressed elicited another scowl from Thor and he crossed his arms over his chest with a huff.

"We do have lessons today," Loki warned Thor in an attempt to jog his memory from the world of sleep.

"Lessons!" Thor straightened when the fact that it was Monday sank in, and gave Loki a bizarre look, uncrossing his arms slightly from his surprise. "With Tilaria here?"

"She's going to be living here from now on," Loki reminded Thor and stood, "there are not going to cancel lessons permanently as much as I know you'd love to hear otherwise. Now get dressed. Tilaria pinged me that she's in the dining hall wondering where we are. If you don't hurry then Volstagg will eat everything."

Loki walked to Thor's closet and tossed him one of his crimson tunics. Thor wasn't awake enough to catch it so it hit him right in the face and fell onto his lap.

"Did you have to wake me up like that?" He demanded his brother and stood reluctantly to strip of his nightclothes.

"I just teleported," Loki replied innocently and tossed Thor a set of his dark storm grey pants. "Whenever I teleport to your room I always go to your bed."

Thor lazily half-threw the blanket back onto his bed, and picked up the pillow. Since Loki had his back to him he expecting to catch Loki off guard as he threw it at Loki. Loki sidestepped it however without needing to turn around and Thor rolled his eyes in exasperation.

Loki levitated the pillow to his hand and threw it back onto Thor's bed.

"Come on," he ordered Thor and teleported to the dining hall.

Thor huffed at Loki once more pulled off his nightshift so he could get dressed. The extra static electricity made his hair stand up even more, and Thor tried in vain to smooth it. He deiced to do as Loki suggested with his hair and went into the bathroom.

When he came out he remembered Loki had said Tilaria was already there and he started rushing to get dressed. As soon as he could he pulled on his boots, realized he had them on the wrong feet, and then tried putting them on again. He swiped his jacket off of the back of his chair as he ran into the hallway and pulled his door closed behind him louder than intended.

He shrugged on his jacket because he knew mother would get mad at him if she saw he wasn't wearing it, and took several shortcuts down to the dining hall. Loki was always beating him with his teleportation, so Thor had learned many shortcuts to try and keep up with him. It took him half the time it would have taken if he went the long way around, and he raced down the hall. When he saw the dining hall ahead he stopped running and walked calmly to it so he had a chance to catch his breath.

Tilaria was standing just inside the doorway with Loki, and it looked like they had already eaten.

"Does Thor always sleep in so late?" Tilaria asked Loki curiously.

Loki smirked and rolled his eyes in light humor. "Only when we have lessons to get to."

"Lessons?" Tilaria tilted her head to one side. "You are still taking lessons?"

"Hello friends!" Thor called out as he came over.

Tilaria and Loki stared at him when they saw that his hair was soaking wet. He smiled at Tilaria and she tipped her head down in hello.

"Thor," Loki frowned. "When I told you to dunk your head under the sink, you do know I wasn't serious?"

Thor shrugged. "I couldn't get my hair to stand down."

Tilaria glanced at Loki curiously.

"Static electricity." Loki explained. "The closer to winter it gets the drier the air is, and the more static there is to bother everyone."

He leaned forward and waved his hand over Thor's hair, drying it instantly.

"Do you mean you're not going to be joining us for the pleasure of lessons?" Loki asked Tilaria sarcastically as he stepped back from Thor.

Tilaria shook her head that she was not. "I finished my lessons a while ago."

Thor stared at her declaration. " _All_ of your lessons?"

"All of my classroom lessons," Tilaria told Thor plainly. "We Ljósálfr start classes before you do, and have them for longer periods. It means we get done with them sooner."

"You don't have _any_ more lessons?!" Thor shouted.

Loki rolled his eyes.

"No more in the schoolroom," Tilaria repeated. "I am not finished in combat and magic, but I can learn the rest of what I need to here on Asgard. You might see me training with Freyja and the other mages or with your training master Eirill, at least sometimes."

"No more lessons and no homework?! That is so not fair!" Thor growled.

Loki looked up when the light dimmed. The dining hall, like many rooms in the palace, had the ceiling enchanted to reflect the sky even though it was inside, including the level of sunlight. It was called a skyview, and through the skyview Loki was able to see that clouds were starting to darken from Thor's frustration.

"A little more Thor and we'll have rain," Loki sighed to his brother.

Thor quieted, and the clouds began to disperse a little. "What are you going to do until we're freed from our teacher?"

"I want to have a look at the palace grounds around Gladsheimr," Tilaria thought aloud. "Maybe after that I could look at your library. I heard that you've got as many magic books as Alfheim."

Thor understood why Tilaria would want to look around and further orient herself in her new surroundings, but was frustrated that she had just mentioned magic and books. Those were two points Thor was woefully weak in.

"We're going to be late," Loki interrupted Thor's train of thought. "If you want to eat something before lessons you'll have to take something and eat on the way there."

"So what if we're a little late?" Thor asked haughtily. "We're the princes. It's not like they're going to punish us."

"Come on," Loki pestered with a sigh. "Hárekr might not punish us for being late, but mother will."

"Fine," Thor admitted and threw his hands up in an exaggerated movement. "We'll see you this afternoon Tilaria, our lessons finish at lunch."

Tilaria was surprised that they got out so early since her classes usually went until sunset, but didn't say anything. This was a different world, and she had already learned that they did things differently than Alfheim.

"It is not fair that mages need less sleep then the rest of us," Thor tossed over his shoulder at the two of them, "and it's so much easier for you to wake up."

Tilaria and Loki exchanged an amused look at Thor's frustrated declaration as he went to the table to steal a bagel and some other things for breakfast. He had his breakfast gathered before long, and the brothers said goodbye to Tilaria and headed to their classroom where their teacher Hárekr would be.

Loki said something to Thor as he started eating his bagel and Thor swatted at him for whatever it was. It was easy for Loki to duck his brother's blow however, and Thor flicked a hand dismissively. The movement seemed to amuse Loki greatly.

Tilaria shook her head at the brothers, and began to walk outside the palace so she could wonder the grounds. She had a feeling she would get used to their antics before long.

* * *

 **Thor takes things Loki says way to literally, he he. The first half talks about the concept of Fel, but the second half is more fluff then anything. Did i do a good job with the fluff? I fear my strong suit is battle scenes, so i'm not sure.**

 *** _Gladsheimr_ \- the golden palace on Asgard, its name translates to "bright home" in Norse mythology.**


	8. A Friendly Warning

The sound of sparring on the children's training field rang from metal blades rather than wood, and the sound halted as Thor and Baldur locked their blades as they sparred. Thor was excited, having won four sparring matches in a row, and Baldur looked determine to stop his cousin's winning streak.

Both had been thrilled when they realized that they were going to be sparring with real, albeit dull blades. Thor gained the upper hand, and managed to send Baldur's blade spinning away from him. Baldur cursed at his cousin softly in frustration but was a good enough sport to bow. Now Thor was up to five wins in a row, and only Hogun stood between him and total victory over his friends.

"Keep your arm up Baldur," Eirill told the child who was third-in-line for Asgard's throne. "A sword can be used with two hands if your arm isn't strong enough to manage a block or swing with one hand."

Baldur looked away, a little upset that at being called weak. He needed to practice and increase the strength in his arms so he could manage the one-handed swings. In battle when he was older he would be holding shield in one hand so he would have no choice but to use only one hand.

Eirill looked back at Thor, "stay light on your feet child. Remember you're using a sword, not a hammer."

Thor smiled at his wording. Mjölnir was a hammer, and one day he would wield that instead of a sword. Baldur went back and sat on the grass, and Hogun stood. Normally, Baldur trained with the other children noble children instead of with Thor and his clique, but not today.

"All right Hogun," Eirill called out to Vanaheim's prince. "Let's see if you can end Thor's winning streak."

Eirill was surprisingly easygoing as long as things stayed sane, and he didn't have to fetch the Allfather. The only time that happened was when Loki didn't cause mischief. He looked back at where Loki was sitting, wary of his misbehaving insolence, but he was sitting calmly looking at his sword with a disgusted look. What a bizarre child. One could almost imagine that he wasn't Asgardian.

Hogun and Thor saluted each other and fell into their respective fighting stances, starting to circle each other.

Loki hadn't payed attention to his swordplay all day, and he didn't intend to do so now. There had been a little confusion with Hárekr's notes, so he had dismissed the class before lunch and given them to Eirill for some combat training to fill in the time.

Swordplay always annoyed the younger prince, and it was even more frustrating now that his fighting style was focused purely on daggers. Training with a weapon he wouldn't use and had no skill in like a sword was a monumental waste of time. Loki wished dearly that he could skip these lessons without getting in trouble with his father.

A senseline pinged a warning, and Loki glanced up from boring lasers into his stupid training sword. There was a boy about his age walking nearby with a book tucked under his arm. The boy was not a threat, so Loki closed his eyes and tugged on his magic again, altering his visual range so he could see on the inferred and ultraviolet spectrum.

Doing this helped his stamina, and increased his skill in switching between spells rapidly as he would have to do in battle. Even better, it helped pass the time. Slítas clicked a warning to Loki not long after, startling Loki from his spellwork. He sat up quickly and saw that the boy was standing near him. Loki was a bad angle to see him, and he leaned back and craned his head up to try and see him better.

"Hello," he greeted the boy politely.

When it came to social interaction Loki hadn't had any experience other than Thor and Thor's friends, so he wasn't sure what he should say. Everyone else was intently watching Thor and Hogun match, so they hadn't noticed the boy's appearance yet.

The boy nodded to him in greeting as Loki had seen Tilaria do, and looked between Thor and Hogun. "Is that Prince Thor?"

Loki felt a slight pang when he realized the boy didn't recognize him as Thor's brother. Then he shrugged it off, more used to this happening then he should be. In the past Loki had also been recognized on sight, but it had been a century since he had harnessed the Tesseract's power without being vaporized. His fame had faded because he was a mage instead of a warrior.

"Yes," Loki told him straightforwardly.

"I'm Angborn Eirillson," the boy greeted.

"Eirillson?" Loki whispered and looked at their training instructor.

"That's my father," Angborn agreed, relieved his father hadn't noticed he was here.

Loki turned the way he was sitting so he could get a better look at Angborn. The two of them appeared to be the same age, but Angborn appeared to have a layer of muscle that Loki lacked from excessive combat training. He had dark, almost rose red hair that hung straight and was parted in the middle. It was cut shorter than most Æsir, and didn't even reach his shoulders. His eyes were brown like dark chocolate, but Loki didn't see any gold in the irises that would be there if he was a mage. Unlike many Æsir, he didn't have any freckles.

Loki heard the sound of Thor's triumphant whoop, and he knew even before he looked back at his brother that Hogun had been defeated. Sure enough, Hogun was rubbing his hand and his sword was behind Thor. Hogun dipped his head respectfully, knowing that he had been bested.

"That is six wins for me!" Thor said triumphantly and punched the air energetically while Hogun fetched his sword. "There is nothing that can defeat me!"

"You Æsir are very confident of your abilities," someone called off to the side and pretty much everyone on the field looked towards the voice.

It was Tilaria. Obviously she'd wondered onto the courtyard when she'd been strolling around the palace grounds, and decided to interrupt Thor. She had her head tilted curiously as she looked at Thor.

"I know what I'm doing," Thor told Tilaria, " _obviously_. I won."

"Arrogant," Tilaria chided softly, making Thor bristle. "You instantly assume that you can defeat any opponent."

"Do you think you can do better?" Thor asked with a huff, making the same assumption Fandral had that she wasn't a good warrior because she was a girl.

"If you want me to try, I wouldn't mind sparring with you." Tilaria shrugged. "I've never fought an Asgardian before."

Tilaria looked to Eirill for permission, and although he looked stunned he recovered quickly and nodded. When he nodded Tilaria unpinned her cloak's clasp and dropped it onto the ground. She walked over calmly and took Fandral's blade when he offered it while Sif rolled her eyes.

Loki turned his head back to Angborn and saw him staring slack-jawed at Tilaria. No doubt he was surprised by how much skin Tilaria had revealed when she had taken off the cloak that had been hiding her body. He recovered, and sat down next to Loki, surprising the prince.

"Who's that?" Angborn whispered to Loki in surprise.

"Heiress Tilaria of Alfheim," Loki introduced her. "I feat Thor's about to lose."

"Heiress, as in Princess?" Angborn's dark eyes widened in shock when he realized exactly who he was talking about. " _That_ is Tilaria?"

Tilaria fell into a fighting stance with Fandral's sword, but Thor wasn't quite sure how to fight the girl so he hesitated. After a moment he swung, and although Tilaria sidestepped his first swing she expertly parried the second. The parry was a close one and Thor's redirected sword came within an inch of hitting her cheek, but she did not flinch.

"Can she beat him?" Angborn leaned in closer to Loki when he asked his question, eyes never straying from the fight.

"She beat Arlen, one of King Hallien's council," Loki admitted. "I suppose it's likely she can handle Thor."

Angborn's eyes got even wider at the mention of the impromptu duel that had happened a month ago. "Didn't she use some sort of Dark Magic to kill him?"

"I'm not sure," Loki dodged with a slight bluff.

Tilaria's blade slid against Thor's and Tilaria shifted her weight and twisted her wrist, forcing Thor to drop his sword. His sword fell on the top of Tilaria's foot, and she kicked it away as she moved closer to Thor. Her grip on the sword changed to a reverse grip and she held the blade at Thor's throat, forcing the elder prince to stop moving.

Everyone stared again when they realized that Thor was beat.

"No way," Sif whispered.

"Not fair!" Thor argued, "That's not fair. I've never seen moves like that before. How do you expect me to counter them?"

Eirill was going to remind Thor of how foolish his question was, but Tilaria beat him to it.

"When you are older and in battle," Tilaria said with a sigh, "do you really expect to your opponent to use moves you know? If you want to survive on the battlefield you have to be able to adapt and anticipate your opponent's next move. Otherwise you're dead, trust me."

Tilaria wasn't supposed to mention that she had died during the civil war, but she decided to scold herself later.

"That is certainly a different style," Eirill mused softly. "It focuses on speed and agility over strength, and I've never seen it before. You clearly are well trained."

"Wow," Angborn whispered and leaned a little closer to Loki. "Father almost never gives compliments. He's too busy pointing out everything you did wrong."

"I noticed," Loki promised Angborn, eliciting a chuckle from his temporary friend.

He had also noticed what Eirill had said about Tilaria's fighting style. Speed and agility instead of strength? That sounded just like his fighting style. Although he wasn't too sure about her magic yet, he admitted that she might make a good sparring partner for himself, and the Ljósálfr fighting style seemed to compliment his own. Maybe he could learn some new moves from her once she settled in.

"You think it's bad being his student, imagine living with him," Angborn reminded Loki in a scolding voice. "Sometimes I want to escape through the Bridge."

"Bifrost?" Loki asked curiously.

"Not exactly…" Angborn hesitated, deciding not to give away ant tactical information.

There was more than one bridge between realms on Asgard, but Angborn wasn't supposed to know about it and he especially wasn't supposed to know where it was.

Loki sensed Angborn would say no more so instead went back to Tilaria. "She knows what she's doing."

"Pretty to, prettiest I've seen." Angborn continued.

"I think every boy on Asgard agrees with you there." Loki replied keeping a straight face with some trouble.

Angborn smiled at him.

It was a welcome change for Loki. He knew that as soon as Angborn realized that he was the prince who practiced the women's art of magic then the smile would fade. It always made the smiles fade, so he decided to enjoy it while it lasted.

Eirill looked around to see the other children's reactions to Tilaria and saw something he did not expect. He nearly flinched when he saw Loki and Angborn sitting next to each other on the grass, heads lowered as they spoke with each other. This was bad. Loki was not just a disgrace, but a very dangerous one and he didn't want Angborn anywhere near him.

"Angborn!" Eirill shouted.

Angborn bolted to his feet at his father's snapped words. "Yes father – yes sir."

His casual and cheerful attitude became nervous, just like how Eirill became nervous when faced with the Allfather's wrath.

"Did you finish your work?" Eirill crossed his arms and asked.

Angborn hesitated. "Mostly, but I have one page left. I was going to do it after dinner."

"After dinner," Eirill said in a calm voice that almost made Angborn cringe.

Tilaria tossed Fandral's sword back to him, using her magic to control its arc so it landed calmly in his hands. She was watching the exchange curiously.

"I have plenty of time." Angborn tried to defend himself.

"So I see" Eirill said in a displeased voice. "A Star Guard does not put off things they can do now, go finish."

Tilaria's dark blue cloak floated off the ground and draped itself on her shoulders. She reached up and clasped the copper sun, eyeing Angborn slyly.

"Angborn," Eirill repeated.

Angborn tore his eyes away from Tilaria to his father.

"Go," Eirill ordered again, eager to separate his son from Loki.

Angborn gave a quick wave to Loki and went off before his father could say anything else. Eirill frowned when he saw his son wave to Loki. He was aware not only how large of a disappointment Loki was to his family, but also how vindictive he could be. It would be best if he warned Angborn who he was befriending.

Thor's match with Tilaria ended the official training for the day. From here on out, the children were free to leave, but Eirill gave them the option of free sparring as he usually did. His suggestion of free sparring was the signal to the children that their lessons were over, and no sooner did the words leave his lips then did Loki teleport off of the field.

Baldur waved goodbye to his cousin Thor and walked off to head back to his suite. His younger brother Hodr had fallen ill recently. It was genetic instead of infectious, so Fey had allowed him to stay in his room on the condition that he remain in bed. No doubt Baldur was going to check on his sibling.

Fandral said goodbye as well, intending to meet up with his friend Kasir and go down to the marketplace to listen to Kvasir tell some stories. Most of the children dispersed as well, and Volstagg went to get something to eat. Sif walked up to Thor however, and the two of them saluted in each in preparation for another fight. Hogun stayed to watch however.

Since some of the children were staying, Eirill had no choice to stay as well and supervise them. His warning to his son would have to wait.

* * *

As it turned out he got swept up in other duties once his lessons with the children were done, so Eirill had no choice but to wait to warn his son. Eirill was frustrated, but resigned. He was doing some paperwork - cursed stuff - when someone knocked on the door to his study.

Eirill gave a long sigh, expecting another chore. "Yes?"

The door opened and Angborn shyly poked his head inside. "Father, may I speak to you?"

Eirill quickly jumped at the chance to abandon the paperwork and nodded approval. Angborn entered and stood before him at attention, waiting for permission to speak.

"Yes Angborn?" Eirill asked, giving him permission to speak after he shuffled some of the classified papers out of sight.

"I apologize for not doing my work," Angborn said seriously. "I heard stories of Tilaria and wanted to see her myself. When I was getting a book for my assignment I saw her walk by. I followed her to the training field and I thought it would be fine to take a short break and watch them train."

Angborn had also meant that nice black-haired boy. He knew he had seen the boy before, but he wasn't quite sure where.

Eirill sighed at his son's innocent plea, realizing that he had once again been too hard on him. He wished yet again that Genza was still alive. She would know how to be gentle with their son.

"Angborn, I do understand where you are coming from about Tilaria. She's quite a sight." He chuckled and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his desk. "I am trying to make you into a warrior Asgard will know it can depend on, but I do not have your mother's touch. For that I apologize."

"It's alright father," Angborn assured him with a smile that quickly faded. "I miss mother."

"I as well," Eirill vowed, and thought back yet again to the Jötnar who had slaughtered her a century ago. "Angborn, your mother was the younger sister of General Tyr and Command Vir, Asgard's two greatest military leaders. I am glad that you want to join the Star Guard, but the other cadets will assume that every advancement you get is _because_ you are Vir and Tyr's nephew."

Angborn start to defend himself, but Eirill shook his head for him to quiet.

"I know that you would never bribe your way to get a promotion or use your uncles as leverage," Eirill smiled when he said that, glad that his son was so trustworthy. "You would rather flunk out of the Academy then ask Vir to waive you by because you're his nephew, and I'm glad for that."

"I shouldn't get a promotion if I haven't earned it," Angborn said darkly. "If I haven't earned it then my lack of skill could end up hurting Asgard or troops serving with me. I don't want anyone to get hurt. I want to serve my princes, especially Thor since he's going to be my future king. He has great potential, and I wouldn't mind following his orders though I wonder what Loki's like."

Here was the topic Eirill wanted to discuss. "My son, do you remember that black-haired boy you were sitting with when Tilaria was sparring?"

"Yes father," Angborn nodded. "What about him?"

"That was Prince Loki," Eirill admitted.

"Oh," Angborn said after a moment. "He's smaller then I thought he'd be."

Angborn remembered hearing about how Loki defeated Nira. The tale had made him seem larger than life. Seeing him in real life altered the perception. That little boy defeated Nira and tamed the Tesseract? It didn't seem real.

"Are you sure father?" Angborn asked, having imagined Loki as something more like Thor.

"Quite sure," Eirill promised.

Angborn hummed. "I guess appearances truly are deceiving."

"Angborn," Eirill cautioned as his son began to get lost in his thoughts. "I do not you befriending Loki. He is a powerful mage, and very vindictive. You know what he did to Thor once. He nearly killed him. His rank as prince likely makes him more willing to act out against others because he knows he can't be severely punished."

That brought Angborn out of his ideals and back to reality. Eirill was right. Loki was dangerous to his brother, and to others. It was not just his magic, but the fact that he was so insolent and rebellious, causing strife because it amused him.

He had also harnessed the Tesseract without being killed by it, and he was the only mortal to ever do that since Malekith had used the Aether. It was different for the Aether thought because it would kill its host eventually, but the Tesseract had only ended up expanding Loki's horizon of power. It had made Loki stronger, but power came with a price and it was widely believed that for the power of the Tesseract Loki had lost his conscience and ability to feel mercy or remorse.

Now that Angborn thought about it, there had been something bizarre in Loki's aura when he'd spoken to him during Tilaria and Thor's duel. He hadn't understood it then, but he did so now.

"I'll keep my distance from father," Angborn promised Eirill.

"Good," Eirill sighed in relief.

* * *

 **You see what Loki's up against, and suddenly you understand his comment that he doesn't have any experience speaking to other people. Angborn, unlike Azura, is an OC that is imporant.**


	9. Blackout

Loki was currently lying on his stomach up in a tree, but his consciousness was currently within the Asgard's barriers. He was listening to the barriers hum as his consciousness was surrounded by light. How Loki was able to connect with the barriers on such a deep psychic level was unknown, and the only explanation he could think of was that he was the son of the Allfather and a powerful mage with a strong connection to Yggdrasil.

The sound of the barriers was vaguely similar to purring, but there was no real way to compare what Loki heard to any other sound. It was such a soothing lullaby that he wanted to curl up in the sound and the pure light that gently neutered his consciousness and sleep. As he listened to the lullaby the barriers alerted him that someone was approaching his body.

With his consciousness in the barriers, his body was left painfully vulnerable and Loki was glad for their warning for he never would have realized otherwise. It was Tilaria, and since she was walking straight towards his body it was a safe bet that she knew he was up in the tree's canopy. Reluctantly, he released his hold on the barriers and their soothing aura slipped away from him.

His consciousness floated back down to his body, and Loki opened his eyes without moving the rest of his body. It would take his body a few seconds to remember that it had to function again, so he stayed quiet as Tilaria approached. He was a little surprised to see her, not having caught sight of her since sparring practice where she had beaten Thor several hours ago.

Although Tilaria was in the habit of using her blades or blood magic before normal spells, she was still able to sense that Loki had not been with his body. Loki sat ups lowly and worked his fingers. They responded lazily, and his sight was blurry though sharpening rapidly as his body acclimated. This disconnection was why Loki didn't astral project often.

Something scaly nuzzled the side of his face his hair and Loki glanced up. Slítas had stood guard over his body while he had been with the barriers and had now wrapped his tail around a branch and lowered himself to where Loki was. Loki held up a hand, and Slítas dropped onto his shoulders gracefully without falling out of the tree.

"Where were you?" Tilaria asked after giving Loki some time to adjust.

Loki thought about trying to explain it to her as he carefully climbed down the branches. When he reached the last lowest branch he jumped to the ground, but his body wasn't ready for the strain and his legs gave so he landed in a heap. He shook it off and sat up, surprised suddenly when Tilaria extended a hand to him. The only person that had ever done that to Loki had been Thor, and Loki stood without accepting her aid.

"I thought you were looking at our magic books," Loki dodged to make up for the quietness in the air.

"I was," Tilaria admitted and lowered her eyes, looking unusually embarrassed. "Learning from a book is harder for me then from another mage."

She looked up to the sky curiously. "You were doing something with the barriers, weren't you?"

Loki nodded, although he was wary of admitting to anyone just how close of a link he had them. Projecting to the barriers always comforted him, and Loki had been doing so more and more, relishing in their warmth and light to escape the reality of his life. There were times where he didn't want to leave the barriers.

"The barriers," Loki started to quietly explain what they were when Tilaria interrupted him.

"I know about them," Tilaria promised. "Everyone knows about them. Asgard's barriers are the reason why Asgard hasn't been invaded by an enemy force for the past five thousand years, and why there has never been any form of civil war or uprising on Asgard."

Tilaria's voice sounded a little venomous, but Loki didn't blame her for it. The barriers were unique to Asgard, and they gave them an unnatural advantage. They were like the permanent and upgraded version of senselines, and could detect any intruders or portals that tried to open on Asgard. If needed, the barriers could be activated to shut down non-Asgardian magic so enemies no longer had the support of their mages. This was enough to cripple any attacking force in itself, and just as they shut down enemy mages they enhanced Asgardian ones to make any skirmishes that did take place on Asgardian hopelessly one sided in the Æsir's favor.

It was the main reason besides Bifrost why Asgard had remained undefeated and in a position of total supremacy for fifteen thousand years. The Asgardian's supremacy in their domain was untouchable. Loki was grateful for it, but the rest of the realms would do anything to shatter the Barriers.

Slítas moved on Loki's shoulders, and although Loki was looking down he still glimpsed Tilaria jump back fearfully.

"What is that?" Tilaria demanded and stared at Slítas, pronouncing each word slowly and carefully.

"This is Slítas," Loki introduced his snake to him.

Slítas heard his name and bowed to Tilaria in greeting.

"He's from Jötunnheim, but he's been living here for the past century with me." Loki explained. "I don't think you've met him before. Slítas, this is Tilaria."

Tilaria didn't budge her stance although Slítas laid his head back on Loki's shoulder. Loki couldn't help but smile at Tilaria's suddenly skittish behavior. Slítas had that effect on people, and he looked up at Loki innocently as if he didn't understand Tilaria's behavior.

"I guess you don't like snakes," Loki mused.

"I've heard of snakes," Tilaria said cautiously as she looked carefully at Slítas, "but there aren't any on Alfheim."

"Don't worry," Loki assured the on edge elf, "Slítas never bites without reason. He might be a snake, but he's fully sentient and can understand our speech even if he can't respond. Spending the last century in the palace as he has, he's become quite well-mannered and polite."

Loki was glad for Slítas's presence. His serpentine friend would listen to whatever Loki told him, and he wouldn't laugh at him for being weak, give him a blank look when he used "mage slang," or become cross when he accidently called a non-magic user a "mundane" as mages tended to do.

Slítas turned one of his emerald cat eyes to Tilaria as she slowly forced herself to relax. Growing from the outer corner of each of his eyes were three ice-like crystal, a trait only a handful of creatures from Jötunnheim possessed. His crystals were unique because they changed with his emotions like a mood ring. Right now they were a hybrid of confused gold and confused orange as he tried to figure out what to make of Tilaria. Likely, he'd never seen a Ljósálfr before.

Slítas stayed calm, not eager to rile Tilaria more. He knew all too well what a dagger was and he didn't appreciate having one pointed at him. When Tilaria didn't sheathe hers he lifted his head off of Loki's shoulder and hissed, crystals becoming pink from irritation. A cobra hood unfurled from his neck, and Tilaria jumped back at the hood, raising her dagger again.

"Stop it both of you," Loki said, glaring at Slítas. "I promise he doesn't bite."

Slítas didn't retract his cobra hood, and Loki sighed.

"If you can't behave yourself Slítas then you might as well leave," Loki warned his snake, "before Tilaria does come at you with the dagger."

Slítas clicked, sounding oddly like an irritated tsk and jumped down from Loki's shoulders. He slithered away into the forest, and Loki sighed. It wasn't like Slítas to be this temperamental around a person. His reaction suddenly made Loki wary, for he knew that Slítas could sense things that even Loki missed. What about Tilaria was bothering him that badly that he wouldn't relax?

Tilaria sheathed her dagger only when the black-scaled serpent vanished from sight. She then reluctantly looked back at Loki.

"What I came to ask you about was telekinesis and gravity manipulation spells," Tilaria got back on track. "It's obvious you have some degree of mastery in them, but I can't do much more than levitate my cloak."

"That might be because your magic isn't tuned for telekinesis," Loki warned, "like mine isn't tuned for telepathy. Each mage has different strengths in different branches of magic. I might be able to show you a few tricks though I use."

"Fire," Tilaria said.

"Huh?" Loki asked, surprised by her word.

"The strongest of the six elements that I am connected to is fire," Tilaria explained. "You use the subelement of ice, so you must be skilled in both water and wind element magic since those two elements create ice."

"I'm learning with wind, but not so much with water," Loki agreed with her.

Loki remembered drowning a century ago just before he had met Slítas. He and Thor had been in the woods shortly after the first freeze of winter, and there had been an accident. Thor had ended up on the ice, and in an attempt to get him to solid ground Loki had also been on the ice. It had cracked under his weight although Thor had been back to shore by then so he was safe.

"Can I see your magic?" Loki asked Tilaria politely. "It'll help me teach you."

Tilaria hesitated, and then nodded. She held out her hand and Loki set his fingers in her palm, so he could "see" her magic. His fingers were cool to the touch.

* * *

Not long after Loki began helping Tilaria with her magic, Thor found himself walking around Gladsheimr in an attempt to locate his brother. He did so because he had a suspicion that if he found his brother he'd find Tilaria. Loki wasn't being easy to find today though, and wasn't in his room or the library. Thor thought about checking Vingólf, the mage's hall, but knew that Loki usually kept his distance from the female mages so it was doubtful he would be there.

He scuffed his foot against the stone floor of one of the exterior covered walkways in frustration. Where was he? That was when he spotted a boy a little younger than him running across the courtyard the walkway he was on lined with a book in his arms. It was the same boy from this morning.

"Hey!" Thor called to the boy and jumped down from the walkway to the courtyard.

Angborn stopped running at Thor's shout, suspecting that someone wanted to speak to him. He wasn't sure whose voice it was as he turned to face it and was startled to see Prince Thor running towards him.

"Yes sir?" Angborn asked politely, straightening to stand at attention.

"Have you seen Loki?" Thor asked him, "I saw you talking with him when I was fighting Tilaria. Do you know where he is, because I can't find him."

"No sir, I haven't seen him since this morning," Angborn admitted.

He remembered what his father had said about Loki, and realized that he might not want to see Loki again.

"Hey Amora!" Thor called out suddenly, surprising Angborn again.

There was an orange-haired girl walking down one of the covered paths, and she had her nose in a book as she walked. She looked up at Thor and sighed, rolling her eyes in an exasperated manner.

"What do you want Thor, I'm busy." She asked him tiredly.

Angborn gawked at her disrespectful tone, shocked that she would speak to the crown prince in that manner. Certainly Thor was a little sporadic, but that didn't mean you had to be insolent towards the future Allfather. Thor didn't seem to take offense however.

"Have you seen Loki?" He repeated his question to Amora, unfazed by her snippety tone.

Amora snapped the grimoire shut and tucked it under one arm. "I'm not Loki's babysitter."

"But you're a mage like him," Thor said in a coaxing tone as if to convince her to agree.

"So I am," Amora agreed, "but Loki trains by himself. It's very rare for him to be at Vingólf with us."

Amora knew why Loki was never with the other mages although it might not be apparent to others. Vingólf was the mage's hall, but it was often called the "sanctuary of the goddesses" because of the uneven amount of female mages. Loki was already using a woman's art and fighting style, so he didn't care to be at a woman's hall or even be around the other female mages for fear of attracting even more scorn from Odin and the other adults. It was why he was usually alone.

"Can't you just say a few words or wave your hands and find him?" Thor asked Amora innocently, certain that she could.

Angborn spotted Loki and Tilaria out of the corner of his eye, and quietly began to inch away. He didn't mean to head towards them, but the entrance to the library was that way and Angborn needed to return the book now that he had finished with his homework.

"That is not how magic works!" Amora snapped at Thor as if stunned by his incompetence.

"You don't need to be so cross," Thor said in an insulted voice as if he were pouting. "I'm not a mage."

"No," Amora agreed with laughter in her voice at the idea of Thro using magic, "but your little brother is. Haven't you learned _anything_ about magic from him?"

"Yes!" Thor defended himself loudly.

With Thor and Amora's bickering as a background, Angborn walked over towards Loki. He made sure that he had a grip on the dagger hidden in his jacket just in case, and wished that he could be walking the other way but the fastest way to the library was past him. Loki was a coward, a man who used the feminine art of magic instead of being a true warrior. Every said as much about Loki, including his own father.

As he approached the pair he noticed that Tilaria had her hands cupped together and there was a gold dragon coin hovering just above her hands, spinning end over end without her needing to touch it. Loki's hands were cupped around Tilaria's and he was likely helping her channel her magic. Angborn knew more about magic then most because of his own secret, but he could only guess at what he was doing.

"All right," Angborn heard Loki say as he approached seemingly unnoticed. "Now lower your hands slowly, but keep focusing on the coin."

Tilaria did as he bid, but the coin wavered and she made a move to grab it.

"Don't," Loki grabbed her hand. "Trust your magic."

Tilaria tssked, but relaxed and half-closed her eyes again. The coin rightened herself, and Loki nodded then looked up at Angborn's approach. Angborn gave a slight stir at Loki's dark emerald-black eyes, but steeled his courage and kept walking.

"Your name is Loki, isn't it?" Angborn asked him when he neared him enough to speak. "You're the mage?"

Angborn's put a disapproving edge to the word mage, and Loki might have cringed if he wasn't so used to hearing it. He nodded slightly instead, and knew that Angborn wouldn't again address him with the smile he had worn this morning when they had watched Thor and Tilaria fight. Loki was used to that to.

A headache appeared out of nowhere, and Loki's eyesight blurred unexpectedly. He didn't expect it, having recovered from his time in the barriers and not having used much magic since. Although Loki's stamina was still lacking compared to his power, he shouldn't be so exhausted.

Angborn was surprised to see Loki wince in pain over something he couldn't feel, and Tilaria glanced away from her work with the coin to him curiously. Without warning, Loki collapsed to his knees. He just barely managed to raise his hands in front of him to keep from falling flat onto the grass. Tilaria's coin fell from her fingers and landed in the grass when she saw him crumble, and she knelt by his side quickly.

Loki had put his hands to his head, and it was clear now that he was in visible pain. Angborn stood there as Tilaria tried speaking to him verbally and then telepathically to try and understand what had was going on. Was Loki losing control over his magic? There were many stories about the time Loki had lost control and nearly killed Thor, and Angborn was suddenly fearful that it might happen again.

He partially drew his dagger, wishing that he had his sword. If Loki's control was going to slip then a puny dagger would be of little good, and he did not want to be anywhere near him. Angborn hesitated again when Tilaria suddenly jerked her hand away. Her attempt to enter Loki's mind had evidently backfired, and she had gotten tangled up in the pain he had felt.

She fell backwards as she reeled in pain, and put a hand over her eyes. This was one of the largest risks of using telepathy, and considering the fact that Loki's pain was mental instead of physical she should have known better than to lower her shields and reach out. Tilaria realized Angborn was still there and looked up at him.

"Get help," she hissed and then stood again so she was by Loki's side once more. "Something's attacking him. I'm going to try and help shield his mind."

"No!" Loki managed to shout as he gasped for breath and twisted the front of his tunic in a fist. "Can't you hear it? It's the barriers. They're in pain. Someone… someone is..."

Loki remembered in terror thinking that the other realms would do anything to shatter the barriers, and now they were in pain.

Tilaria recoiled from Loki again as the pain he felt seeped into her mind. She expected the pain to fade when shushed her telepathy and was startled to realize that it wasn't quieting. The pain she felt wasn't because of her contact with Loki anymore, now she felt her own pain as the barriers reached out to her for help as they had done to Loki.

The flare of pain felt like someone was raking claws through it, and it was a different type of pain then a mindflare. It had to be the barriers reaching out to her, and not just to her and Loki. They reached out to all of the other mages and asked them for help as well since the mages could connect with them easiest.

"Amora!" Thor's voice shouted, and Angborn turned at the shout.

She had dropped her book and was sinking to her knees as well. Thor lifted a hand to her with stunned features, but didn't know what to do. He looked back to Angborn, but although Angborn knew more about magic then most he had no idea what to do.

Thor's connection to the barriers was strong despite the fact that he was not a mage because he was Odin's son, and Angborn's secret meant that he also had a connection to them. When the mages failed to do anything to stop the attack on them, the barriers reached out to these two and everyone else on Asgard. Everyone from Odin to Heimdall to the servants walking through Gladsheimr felt the pain and dropped what they were holding, and cringed back.

Thor could hear it now faintly, a sort of screeching right on the edge of his hearing range. The screeching gained in power and volume, and then he heard a sound like breaking glass that wrenched his heart. He stepped sideways and then collapsed onto the ground, soundly unconscious.

All around Asgard, everyone lost consciousness and fell to the ground – from the servants preparing diner in the kitchen to the Star Guard training in the fields. Heimdall collapsed onto the ground in front of Bifrost's Observatory, and even Odin fell unconscious on his throne. Gungnir slipped from his fingers and tumbled down the steps of his throne, ringing slightly as it hit the steps and rolled onto level ground.

No one on Asgard was left awake, at least, no one except Daris's spy. They were satisfied, and stopped their spell that had twisted the barriers. With everyone unconscious, there was no one to activate the barriers against an enemy force and no one to fight off attackers who might come and slaughter everyone as they slept. Asgard and every inhabitant on it was now at Daris's mercy.

Daris's spy stood, and the scepter they had used to harm the barriers glowed. Its handle was golden, and a little over two feet long. At its end was a blue oval like jewel that glowed, and the jewel was encircled by two sharp silver blades. The blade over the top of the blue stone-like jewel was longer then the one beneath it, and the stone was cradled between the two.

The blue gem dimmed when the spy released their hold on the odd scepter's power. They ran their finger across the silver blade above the jewel, and noted that it was as sharp as a blade's edge as they wondered where this strange weapon had come from. Daris had given it to them and had said it was a gift from a friend, though he had not said who their mysterious friend was.

It was of little importance to the spy though, and he was glad for whoever had given Daris this powerful weapon. With Asgard vulnerable, it was time to carry out Daris's orders. The spy stood, and walked off to complete their objectives, the golden scepter in one hand.

* * *

 **First off, i want to say that everyone should know exactly what scepter that spy is using and who gave it to them. If you don't i'm just going to say it was in the first _Avengers_ movie and leave it at that. The question is, why is Thanos supplying Daris with weapons? What's in it for him?**

 **Asgard is in serious trouble now. I mean, even Odin is unconscious. Not only does Daris's spy have total run of the place, they've got the scepter and orders. I wish them luck. They're going to need it.**

 *** _Vingólf_ : In Norse mythology it was the hall or sanctuary of the goddesses, and built at the same time as Gladsheimr.**


	10. Shadow of a Bad Dream

Loki awoke from the muddled rest brought on by the barrier's cry of pain by pain in his neck. He winced and slowly stirred. There was a clicking sound and something cold pushed itself against Loki's cheek.

Slowly, Loki blinked open his eyes. He was lying on the grass on his stomach and although there was no pain in his mind anymore, he found himself too groggy to think clearly. The thing pushed Loki's cheek again, and Loki slowly turned his head to see Slítas sitting coiled next to him.

Slítas's muzzle was red from blood, and when Loki touched his neck his fingertips came away red. Now he knew what the pain in his neck had been, but the injury Slítas had inflicted to his throat had healed already. He had no trouble breathing.

Loki brought his arms up under himself, and pushed himself up slightly. "Slítas?"

Slítas clicked and nuzzled his cheek again, crystals a dark yellow from the concern he felt for Loki. When he saw that Loki was fine, some of the yellow faded to light blue in relief.

Loki looked left and right with a dazzled look in his eyes. Tilaria and Angborn were lying unconscious near him and a little further away were Thor and Amora. They must have been rendered senseless from the barrier's lament as he had. It didn't surprise him much since they were mortals and there was only so much power they could take before their body started to reject it. Falling unconscious was a defense mechanism, and apparently the only way to stop the barriers from speaking to them.

"Thanks Slítas," Loki smiled at his companion coiled on the grass. "I guess you woke me up before my body was ready for it."

He touched the blood on his neck again, and stretched as he sat up on his knees. No one else was awake, and things were eerily quiet around him. There was no bustling undercurrent of noise from the people within Gladsheimr, and it made Loki's nerves tingle unpleasantly.

Why was it so quiet? Unless it wasn't just the five of them who had passed out, Loki realized in horror. What if more people had?

Loki reached over and shook Tilaria's shoulder to try and stir her, but there was no response. He hissed softly in frustration and looked around again, becoming more alert.

"Slítas, can you wake them up like you did with me?" Loki asked his snake as he stood and drew his daggers hidden in his bracers, wary of an attack.

The silence was truly deafening. Even the animals were quiet, as if they knew a predator was near as tried not to move so they would not be seen. Loki tried to cast a senseline, but his magic was still recovering from the shock of the barriers attack and did not respond. No matter, unlike most mages Loki knew how to manage without his magic.

Slítas bit Tilaria to try and stir her, but there was no response from her. Loki knelt by her side and reluctantly turned his eyes to her instead of scanning the horizon. Normally he could give Tilaria a dose of his magic to jolt her awake, something akin to a shot of adrenaline, but without his magic there seemed to be no way to wake her up. He didn't know how Slítas had managed to wake him up, but it seemed he was the only one that was going to become conscious.

Slítas jerked his head towards the palace suddenly and snarled like a cat, flaring his cobra hood. His crystals now blazed red in anger from something only he could sense. Loki realized that while his magic was still recovering from the overload the barriers had put it through, Slítas's was fine and untouched.

"Slítas," Loki whispered, wishing he could send out a senseline. "Is something going on somewhere else?"

Slítas turned his head back to him and shook it in a nod, then motioned for him to go inside the palace. Loki hesitated though, and looked back at Thor and the others. If he left then they would be defenseless.

Slítas seemed to realize the reason behind Loki's hesitance, and hissed quietly in an almost gentle manner. Loki looked back at Slítas and when the snake nodded slowly again, set his features and tightened his grip on the daggers' hilts. Until his magic healed itself he would have to rely on Slítas to be his sixth sense. He knelt and Slítas slithered up his jacket sleeve, poking his head out near Loki's collar.

"Where?" Loki asked him seriously.

Slítas jerked his head towards the palace, and Loki nodded and started running. He couldn't teleport, but luckily for him he was a very good runner. Leaving his brother and friends behind unguarded rattled him, but clearly Slítas thought that it was more important to see to the threat in the palace. Loki had learned to trust Slítas's instinct long ago, and often suspected that Slítas was more intelligent than he was.

Loki ran inside, steps light and rhythmic, daggers trailing behind him. He slid to a stop inside, and stared down the hallway at the scene before him. Lying on the ground as unconscious as the children outside were a number of servants, Star Guard, and nobles. Then he clenched his teeth and ran through them. It wasn't just their group that was unconscious after all.

If all these people were also unconscious then it stood to reason that everyone else on Asgard was to. After a few minutes of running Loki realized that Slítas was taking him in the direction of the throne room. Loki's first thought was that his father had to be fine because of how powerful he was, but then Loki realized that he wouldn't be. Odin had Gungnir and it had a very strong connection to the barriers, so he would undoubtedly be unconscious as well.

Was this attack an attempt to kill his father? Anger made Loki run faster and darkened his features. Odin might not care much for him, but he was still Loki's father and no one was hurting his family.

Slítas hissed a warning when Loki saw the doors of the throne room appear in his sight, and Loki heeded it and slowed so he could walk quieter. He approached the doorway, and put his back to the wall to the right of it. There was a nod from Slítas that the threat was indeed inside, and Loki peered around the corner of the doorway while moving his body as little as possible. What he saw made him tense up and take a hissed breath.

Inside there were a number of people unconscious. Odin had evidently been holding court when the barriers had been attacked, and his father was still slumped on the throne with Gungnir lying on the floor at the base of the throne. Walking up the steps to where Odin lay vulnerable was a roughly humanoid shaped figure about five feet tall made out of shadows.

It was a shadow puppet, a shade made by a very powerful shadow mage, and it was heading straight for Odin. There were no known shadow mages on Asgard, and it left Loki with little doubt that whoever was controlling it was likely the same person who had attacked the barriers earlier. Had this been their plan all along?

When Loki hissed the shade stopped walking, and Loki quickly jerked away from the doorway and pressed himself against the wall. He held his breath. How was he supposed to fight a shade? Shadow magic was nearly as rare as blood, and Loki had absolutely no training in it. His best guess was to use light elemental magic to counter the shadow element, but he didn't have any training in that either.

While Loki was trying to figure out what to do he failed to realize that the shadow puppet had noticed him, and its master had directed it to dispose of the child first and then go back and kill Odin. At the same time, two more shades were in the process of completing the secondary objectives as instructed by Daris. The mage smiled as they dissolved their shade in the throne room and rematerialized it in the shadows of the hallway outside where the intruder was hidden.

Loki stared when the shadows in the hall moved and suddenly stepped out of the second dimension. Just as Tilaria had done a month ago when she had used her shadow to kill Arlen, the piece of the shadow of Daris's spy materialized before Loki. He tried to step back but realized he was already against the wall.

The shade was a terrifying construct. Its features of its face were blank as slate, and its limb were disproportionate. All of its body was asymmetrical, and some of its body was as opaque as steel, while other parts like tinted glass. Shadows seemed to cling to it and radiated like searching tentacles or feelers. Black dust hovered around its form like a twisted version of a planet's rings. There was a crescent sized chunks missing from each of its sides so it got narrower and then wider again in a very inhuman way.

Slítas hissed at the construct, and the sound was enough to snap Loki out of his daze. The shade swung one of its hands, the hands being talons instead of fingers, but Loki ducked and danced away from their swing. Its fingers went right through the wall and reformed once they left the solid surface.

Loki grit his teeth when he realized that of course the shadow had the ability to become corporeal or not depending on which was better for the moment. That meant that it naturally had the ability to make itself incorporeal long enough for its hand to cross his blade or a magical ward he raised to defend itself and then corporealize once past the defense to strike directly at him. Although Loki had heard of the transfiguration magic of shimmering, this was his first time to see it in action.

Loki stepped back, easily staying out of reach of its strikes. "Slítas, try and wake someone up. Anyone!"

Slítas dropped from Loki's shoulders while Loki dodged a few more swipes, and slithered into the throne room. He had only managed to wake Loki up because he was used to his senses being overloaded by the barriers and so had managed to recover quickly. It would take longer for the others, but he knew his friend would need some help to defeat the shade.

A little bit of Loki's magic began to hum in his soul again, and he quickly used it. Loki snapped his fingers towards the shadow and a gust of wind sprang from his fingers, the edges razor sharp. It flew towards the shade and it disintegrated into dust from the force behind his blow. He hesitated and stood there, knowing that it couldn't be over so quickly.

Where had it gone? Without his magic there was no way for him to sense its presence and he looked around desperately. The hair on the back of his neck suddenly stood on end, and Loki whipped around to try and jump aside.

Just as he suspected, the shade had rematerialized behind him but he wasn't fast enough. The shade's taloned fingers sliced through his upper right arm. Loki's arm instantly went numb and his dagger fell from his fingers as he arm stopped working. There was no pain, but that made it all the more frightening to Loki when he saw blood splatter on the wall.

Loki dropped his other dagger and clenched his good hand to the injury as he jumped backwards from another attack. He couldn't use the arm that had been scratched. Despite the injury being a minor one, his flow of magic was halted and his nerves shredded. What an attack this thing had, to merely scratch the flesh and instead shred a person's nerves. This was something he had never heard of.

Loki tried in vain to heal the damage to his arm and hopped a few steps back. How was he supposed to fight something who could kill with a single scratch if it hit the right nerve cluster, and could make itself like a ghost to pass through anything in his way? This thing also could reform the instant he dissipated it. No doubt the only way to stop it was to go for the mage, but he had no idea who or where they were.

The shadow dissipated and then reformed to his right. Loki hopped back only for his foot to slip. There was only so long someone could keep up perfection as Loki had been doing to stay out of the shade's reach, and his time was up. It was a slight stumble, but enough for the shadow to swoop in.

Loki gasped as the shade's hand grabbed him by the throat and slammed him onto the floor. He tried to cast against it, but remembered he didn't have his magic. His eyesight blurred unexpectedly, and the hand Loki rose to try and cast started shaking. Exhaustion suddenly made his limbs feel like lead, and his eyes struggled to stay open.

Why was Loki suddenly feeling tired, unless, was the shade absorbing his lifeforce? How? Was it through touch, as Nira could do?

The hand that gripped his throat was not heavy and did not hamper his breathing, but he couldn't seem to be able to shake it free. His hand passed right through its arm without harming it and he had used up what little magic he had with the wind attack and then trying to heal his arm. There was nothing he could do to break its grip, and no way to stop the drain of his lifeforce as it began to reach critical levels.

Daris's spy smiled, and the jewel on their scepter grew brighter as they drew more magic from it. Although Loki had failed to stop the shade, he had bought some time and that time was all that Odin needed to awaken from the effects of the barriers being overloaded. Even as the spy drank in the lifeforce of Asgard's younger prince that its shade fed to them, Slítas awakened Odin.

Their connection with the shade ended suddenly as a blast from Gungnir incinerated it, doing such total damage that the shade returned to a shadow state. They yelped and dropped the scepter, jumping up and stumbling back. Damn, the boy had managed to buy enough time.

Loki was aware that Gungnir had fired and that the shade was gone, but not much else. His heartbeat had slowed dangerously and he couldn't quite make out the identity of the person who walked over and knelt by his side.

"Fa-ther?" Loki asked quietly in a trembling voice as his lifeforce splintered and he was dragged into the black world of unconsciousness.

* * *

 **Now Loki is fighting a _shade_. How does he get into these messes? It's really somewhat impressive how insanely chaotic things get around him. Tis little wonder Loki's known as the god of mischief and lies with his demented luck. That Shade is not the nicest thing to go up against, and neither is its master. **


	11. Escape

Arrow fire hissed around the archery field as several Ljósálfr practiced their aim. One of the archers was becoming frustrated with her bow however, for none of her arrows were landing a worthwhile shot. After missing yet another shot, Kiri Halisdottir lowered her bow and wished that it wasn't required that she practice archery.

As a general rule, Ljósálfr like Kiri were some of the best shots in the realms. It was because of that natural affinity that the Silver Arrows, a faction of archers in their military, had been created. Kiri was an Immortal Guard however, and would stick to her saber first and her bow never.

While Kiri scowled at the target, one of the Silver Arrows came walking along the field towards her and called out. "Be pleased you inherited your mother's skill with a saber, Lieutenant."

Kiri glanced dubiously over her shoulder at the voice, and recognized Kharis, a Silver Arrow Lieutenant. He wasn't wrong about her mother though. Sella, her mother, had been the Commander of the Immortal Guard and her father Halis had led the Silver Arrows. Although her mother was dead and Myrin now led the Guard, Halis still commanded the Arrows.

"I do not believe I can even hold a saber correctly and I am sure that I could not fight wearing that armor." Karis continued talking and tapped his metal-studded leather armor, pointing out that it was lighter than the plate metal an Immortal Guard like Kiri had to wear.

"You Arrows never get close enough to the real battle to have need of armor." Kiri shot back at him as she walked onto the field to retrieve her arrows manually.

"At least I can hit the target." Kharis muttered smugly.

Kiri rolled her eyes inwardly. Banter like this between the Arrows and the Guard was natural, and it did relieve Kiri that some things would never change. Although it had only been about a week since Daris and Rane's betrayal, life on Alfheim had recovered. She had been promoted from Sublieutenant, a rank one step above a cadet, to Lieutenant.

Even though her rank had increased, the Immortal Guard has still lost a lot of favor and power from so many of them turning out to be Daris's spies. Now the Silver Arrows made up the backbone of the Ljósálfr army and the Immortal Guard were secondary. Most were happy with this since they saw no reason for their army to stoop to a level of an Æsir by swinging a sword and shield in combat. Kiri thought that stung a little and she knew Rane would agree with her.

She shook the thoughts of Rane from her mind as she knelt and picked up one of her arrows. Rane was a traitor of the highest degree and he had tried to kill Prince Eragon _twice_. How she had ever loved him was beyond her and if he ever escaped from his cell on Alfheim then she would kill him. It was as simple as that.

All things considered, it was lucky that Rane had managed to be stopped twice. The first time was thanks to the halfbreed Tilaria, but the second time it had been from a night hair interloper who had destroyed Rane's sight in his right eye with a well-aimed throw and a throwing shard. There was a sound from her right as Micha Arlenson, the orphan who had bene the one to destroy one of Rane's eyes and capture him, was standing with his legs spread and a bow raised.

The arrow he had just released flew through the air and landed a bullseye. After Micha's aim with the throwing shard, Prince Eragon had thought that he might make a good shot with a bow and so stolen a spare one two days ago Her prince's instincts had been accurate, and it had been discovered that Micha had natural skill with a bow.

Although Kiri ignored the night hair as she picked up a few more of her arrows, Kharis nodded approval. Kharis was one of the few being who could stand to be near a Night Hair, so Micha had been put under Kharis's temporary custody. Micha had been getting along without a parent for so long though that he didn't really need a guardian so Kharis simply helped perfect the child's combat abilities.

There was a light wind that rustled the mottled grey-green cloak that the Silver Arrows wore. The dull colors blended in with the forest underbrush, and it allowed the Silver Arrows to act not just like archers but assassins or rouges to sneak close to the enemy and take them out.

His cloak was clasped at his throat by a dull metal clasp that would not reflect sunlight and accidently give his location away. It was the Silver Arrows symbol, fives arrows arrayed like a fan with the arrowheads pointing up. There was a star in the place where the shafts of the arrows overlapped.

"Lieutenant," someone called out.

"Yes?" Kiri and Kharis answered at the same time.

They looked at each other curiously while Micha relaxed his pull on the bowstring and glanced at them with a snicker, his dark amethyst eyes lightened to orchid purple in his amusement. Both Lieutenants turned to look at him, and the It was a perfect shot that landed right in the middle of the target.

"Lieutenant Kiri," The elf who had called out clarified himself with a pointed look of dismissal at Kharis.

Kharis took the hint and walked away from Kiri to Micha. Kiri picked up her last arrow she had fired and walked over to the elf curiously, dreading what he was going to say.

"He has requested your presence again." The elf relayed to her once she had returned the arrows to a quiver and stood before him.

Kiri sighed softly and looked away. By _he_ , Kiri knew the messenger meant Rane. This was the third time he had asked to see her.

"I want nothing to do with him." Kiri growled, relaying the same answer she had given the first two times.

The messenger nodded slightly. "I am aware of that ser, but Hallien wishes you see him and listen to what he has to say. He will not speak to anyone and he may know something about Daris's current location or plan."

The traitor who escaped, Kiri thought tartly. "Is that an order?"

The elf nodded again, and Kiri sighed in acceptance.

"Very well," she told him and he left.

She turned over her archery equipment to Kharis so he could put it up and started to walk to the palace. Speaking to Rane at least would halt her practice with the arrows, and she supposed that was a good thing. Things were quiet as she walked through the trees back to the palace. Animal and plant life had returned to normal by now, and the Ljósálfr along with it. The fact that Daris was a traitor was stunning, but his father Anar had also been a traitor so it was understandable that he would follow in his father's steps.

Rane's treason was less expected, but when his quarters had been thoroughly searched they had found hair dye among his things. It seemed he had been a black-haired night hair, and those with black hair had the darker colored locks from Dökkálfr blood in his ancestry heritage. Dökkálfr were traitors, and his treason made more sense after knowing that. Many of the other Immortal Guard who had defected to Daris or civilians who had gone missing had also been found using dye to hide their black hair.

Kiri's walk to the giant tree that housed the palace inside was stopped when a Ljósálfr boy about nine years in human time with white-blonde hair and eyes like blue garnet approached her. He was wearing plain civilian clothes instead of a prince's outfit and was fiddling with something green and silver clipped onto his right arm's bracer rather then look where he was walking. The boy suddenly seemed aware he was walking towards Kiri, so he looked up and smiled when he saw her.

"Hello Sublieutenant," Prince Eragon greeted her and stopped what he was doing. "Or Lieutenant Kiri now."

"Yes," Kiri agreed and her eyes widened when she saw what was mounted on his right bracer. "Is that your wristbow?"

Eragon looked down at it and then back up at her. "Yes, father's been repairing it and he just finished this morning. I wanted to go test it out."

"Wasn't it shattered by Daris?" Kiri asked curiously. "This looks just like the one that was destroyed."

"It was destroyed," Eragon smiled sadly, "but father made this new one look identical to the old one. Do you want to see me try it out?"

"I would," Kiri agreed, "but I'm afraid I have a matter that must be taken care of."

As ever, Eragon did not take offense but nodded in understanding. "All right, goodbye."

Kiri bowed to him, and Eragon cheerfully walked past her with his recreated wristbow. In the direction he was going he'd soon see Micha, and Kiri knew Eragon would be eager to show his friend his wristbow.

Put in a better mood by seeing Eragon, Kiri took the shortcut to the dungeons that did not involve entering the palace. It was underground, so the only light inside came from the vines that twined across the entire ceiling. Small crystal bellflowers hung from the vine, giving off a soft yet bright aura of golden-green light that illuminated the passage.

The guards there already knew of Kiri's summons so she walked unchallenged. Her destination was a cell about nine feet by nine feet and seven feet high. Its stone floors and roof were perfectly smooth with right corners, and the only break from the dark tan stone was the green energy barrier that covered the fourth wall.

The vines stopped outside the cell, so the green wall provided light for the single inmate inside. This energy barrier was different than the others, and rather than swirling green dust it had a honeycomb design that rippled like waves in a pond. Because of this advanced design the prisoner would not have to touch the barrier to be burned by it.

Within the cell was Rane himself. He had been stripped of his old uniform, and although he was not muzzled he wore a pair of restrainer cuffs. There were bandages around his right eye that Micha had destroyed, leaving just one of his blue eyes able to see Kiri approach.

"Hello lover," Rane purred to her tauntingly. "I missed you."

"If you do not have any information to give then I am leaving," Kiri warned, and turned around.

"Wait," Rane said softly.

Kiri turned back around to face Rane. "What? Are you going to tell me what Daris is planning next or where he is?"

"I will never betray Daris," Rane smiled softly at her accusation, "you don't understand what he's done for me. I will ask you though to release me."

"Release?" Kiri recoiled at her suggestion, "You are a traitor who poisoned Eragon with Dayturn Toxin!"

"Technically that was Myrin," Rane pointed out, "and you should let me out."

"Why?" Kiri asked dubiously and shook her head.

Rane shook his head. "If you do not let me out you will wish you had."

"Is that a threat?" Kiri asked darkly.

"A fact," Rane tilted his head to one side.

Kiri rolled her eyes, "you are a liar desperate to get out of your cell and back to Daris."

"Truth," Rane smiled and chuckled, "but I don't always lie."

Kiri sensed more than saw someone's presence behind her, and she drew her saber as she whipped around only to get knocked off of her feet by a bolt of alien blue magic. She crashed into the energy barrier on Rane's cell, and felt it burn her before she fell to the ground with blurred vision. The person who had attacked her walked up to her, and let a little more of the wraith like blue energy flicker around their fingers.

"Wait," Rane called out to his ally before they could kill Kiri.

The elf paused and then consented to simply render Kiri unconscious with a grumble towards Rane of, "weakling."

"Hardly," Rane told his ally. "I simply don't see the fun of letting _you_ kill her."

"You never change," the elf sighed and with a wave of their hand deactivated the energy barrier trapping Rane inside.

Rane stepped out and stretched, "I've never known you to be so bloodthirsty either Kharis."

Kharis shrugged, and tapped Rane's restrainer cuffs. They deactivated and fell to the floor.

"Is there any particular reason why you left me stranded in here for a week?" Rane challenged Kharis as he knelt by Kiri and snapped his restrainer cuffs onto her wrists.

"I had to wait for our friend on Asgard to make their move," Kharis defended in a not defensive tone. "Right now Heimdall is unconscious like everyone else there, so there's no chance of my cover being compromised. I am the only Silver Arrow loyal to Daris right now, so I can't be known until I recruit some more Eladrin got his ranks."

"I suppose that makes sense," Rane admitted.

He dragged Kiri into the cell and reactivated the forceshield around it.

"Daris activated almost all of his sleeper agents here on Alfheim," Kharis reminded Rane. "I'm one of the few who is not. Someone needs to feed him information, and I still need to sabotage Alfheim's air defense network once he gives the signal."

"So they really got it working," Rane smiled. "I was a little unsure of the plan."

"I do not know the details," Kharis admitted, "but the Dökkálfr warship is functional and flight worthy. I think they'll be taking off shortly. It won't take them long to fly here to Alfheim and raze it."

"But they can only do that if you shut down the air defenses," Rane chuckled. "Say, was that blue energy you used on Kiri really…"

"Yep," Kharis smiled. "It was from the scepter. I still do not know who Daris got it from, but I do like it. Our friend on Asgard is the one who actually has it, but I can still remotely draw off its power."

"Its energy blasts pack quite a punch," Rane chuckled and glanced at Kiri, unconscious.

"Come," Kharis tilted his head down the hall. "With the starship about to take off, Daris has need of his second in command."

The two elves walked down the hall to the portal Kharis had opened. They had to step over the bodies of the Immortal Guard who had challenged Kharis to get to it, and once they did Kharis remained behind while Rane walked through it. There was no alarm of a prison break as Rane left Alfheim and set foot on Svartalfheim.

The bridge of the Dark Elf warship Daris and his followers had been rebuilding over the past century was busy with activity. A shade was also on the bridge with Tilaria as its prisoner, the girl still unconscious. Rane smiled when he saw that his friend on Asgard with the scepter had completed at least one of the three objectives. Two Light Elves dressed in Dark Elf uniforms they had found onboard dragged her away to the dungeon.

All the realms thought because the Dark Elves were extinct that there was no longer any threat from the technology left behind. How surprised they were soon going to be.

* * *

 **I just realized that there are a lot of traitors among the Light Elves. This sort of reminds me of** ** _Captain America: Winter Soldier_** **only instead of HYDRA this time it's Daris's followers, and a Dark Elfin warship instead of Helicarriers. Instead of SHIELD being in the line of fire this time though it's all the realms, especially Asgard as you'll see later.**

 **If you get Star Trek then you will get the reference: The Light Elves can best be described as this: They are like Vulcans in the fact that they suppress their emotions and can logically ration out any solution to any problem no matter how unethical it may be. They are however, as treacherous as Romulans.**


	12. Shatterpoint

Around Asgard, the unconscious citizens were beginning to stir. The mages had been the first to fall because of their connection to the barriers, but they were also the most used to their energy being destabilized so they were the first to recover. They awakened not long after Odin, and after that the rest of Asgard began to stir as well.

Slítas sat curled next to Loki's side while everyone started to stir as Odin fed Loki energy from the Odinforce to stabilize the child's Seidr. He looked up at Odin and then back down to Loki, and laid his head on Loki's chest with a sigh of relief as Loki's slow heartbeat stabilized. Odin picked up Loki in his arms with Slítas, and moved them both to the throne room where he could keep an eye on them. Laufey's son was laid onto Odin's throne so he could rest in peace, and then he gave orders to those who had stirred to scatter and find out exactly what had happened.

Time passed, and people brought information and scattered here and there until Loki finally stirred from his sleep. It was gentle this time, and not accompanied by pain. He wasn't aware of where he was as his eyes opened until his vision came into focus.

Once it did, he found himself curled up on the seat of Odin's throne and unable to understand how he had gotten there. Slítas clicked, and Loki rolled onto his back to see his pet snake had draped itself on the back of the throne. It seemed he had been watching over Loki as he slept.

Loki smiled at his serpent reassuringly, and Slítas seemed to relax. He lowered himself from the back of the throne and Loki raised a hand to scratch him under the chin. His hand shook from exhaustion from the movement. Something happened in the room, and Loki let his hand drop limply to his chest.

With effort, he rolled back over and faced the throne room. His father was standing at the base of the steps that led to the throne with Gungnir in hand. Scattered around him, still looking a little dazed, were other Æsir. He recognized General Tyr, Commander Vir, Freyja, the armchmage of Asgard's magic users, Akir, and others.

"WHAT HAPPENED?" Odin demanded the gathered group impatiently and slammed Gungnir against the ground.

Loki winced at Odin's shout, and felt his temples throb in time with his heartbeat. He couldn't bring himself to be annoyed at his father for his sore head, so relieved he was to see his father safe. With effort, Loki managed to sit up in Asgard's throne, resting against one of the arms. Although his Seidr was stable enough for him to be conscious, it was going to be awhile before it recovered to anything akin to normal levels.

"The Weapon's Vault and the Treasury are untouched," Vir began to report. "Other than the shade that attacked you sir, there doesn't appear to be any signs of trouble. Likely you were the target."

"I have gathered as much," Odin told Vir impatiently, "now, do you have any idea what happened?"

"It's rather straightforward," Freyja interrupted Vir before he could answer. "We have a rouge shadow mage."

"That should be obvious at this point," Tyr argued. "He means about being knocked out. How did that happen?"

Freyja looked away darkly, in as bad a mood as everyone else present. "The barriers were damaged."

Loki sat a little straighter when Freyja said that although his half-asleep look didn't go away. Had Freyja just said the barriers were damaged? There was no way. Nothing could damage the barriers. They had been made by Gaea herself, and were not a mortal construct.

"Slítas," Loki managed to whisper hoarsely through a sore throat.

Slítas turned his head towards him from watching the adults.

"Watch me," Loki ordered.

Slítas understood and nodded. With someone to watch over his body, Loki snuggled into the throne and projected his consciousness to the barriers. After a moment of nothing happening, Loki felt his grip on his exhausted body slip away. A ripple of energy traveled across his incorporeal form, and he felt warmth like pure light as the untainted power of the barriers warmed him.

Something was wrong though.

"I have the mages who have recovered working on the barriers as we speak," Freyja continued. "The damage isn't critical, I can tell you that right now. They're looking at the pattern of the damage to figure out what was done to damage it, like looking at the injuries on a body to find the murder weapon."

"You don't sound very hopeful," Odin pointed out cautiously.

"I'm not," Freyja replied as bluntly as ever. "I simply don't understand what happened. Gaea made them to be untouchable."

Loki knew the energy that had cracked the barriers from fragments still embedded in the wounds. He knew the energy, but it had been a century since he had last felt the Tesseract's power so he almost didn't believe it. The Tesseract was back.

He withdrew from the barriers in shock, and winced as he returned to his body. Normally the barriers gave him a dose of their energy, but this time he was only left even more tired than before. Even breathing felt like an effort almost too much to be worth it, and Loki supposed that his Seidr was simply too low to be dosed. There was no way to recover from this other a nice long several-day nap.

That was the moment when footsteps echoed in the corridor and Thor burst into the throne room. "Father! Loki and Tilaria are-"

He stopped talking after he ran a few steps into the throne room, sliding to a stop and staring at a sight he never expected to see. Loki was sitting on Odin's throne as if he were king of Asgard. Why was he on father's throne?

"Loki!" Thor smiled in relief after a moment of letting the surprise fade. "You're okay!

Loki tried to nod, but found he was too exhausted and only bowed his head. Locks of his raven hair, normally neatly combed back, fell in front of his face. He didn't even have the energy to raise his head.

Two things were running through Loki's mind. He was glad that Thor was alright because he had been fearful about leaving him unguarded, and the other thing was that he truly wished he could raise his head. Being so tired after a single skirmish made him look like a weakling, and everyone called him that often enough without him needing to prove them right.

His magic still hadn't gotten a chance to recover, and Loki cursed his healing factor. Although he had immense power and measurable stamina, once he burned himself out then he was tapped. It took him two or three times longer than it should to recover his Seidr, so he was in bed longer then he should be. It was why he was weak, and right now he needed to at least pretend he was fine.

Try though he might, he just couldn't find the strength to raise his head. Thor noticed how tired Loki was and he was startled, having never seen Loki in this sort of shape. He took a step forward, and his bright expression become a little more somber out of concern for Loki.

"Loki is exhausted," Odin assured Thor, "but not severely injured. It appears the assailant attempted to assassinate me while I was unconscious. Loki was able to repel them long enough for me to come to my senses."

"Assailant?" Thor whispered, and then asked louder. "You mean the person that hurt the barriers?"

"Aye," Vir interrupted the young prince softly, "a shade."

Thor stared at Vir now, having heard horror stories of shades and their masters.

Odin thought Loki would have come down by now, but realized that the shade had taken too much of his lifeforce for him to move and so addressed Thor. "Thor, why don't you take your brother back to his room? He needs rest."

"Not Fey?" Thor asked curiously.

"I've healed the damage done by the shade already," Odin said in a shooing voice. "We adults have to discuss what happened."

Thor must have agreed with his father because he skirted Odin and ran up the steps of the throne to where Loki was sitting. Loki was too tired to greet Thor or say something nonchalant like he usually would, and his lack of a response seemed to unsettle his brother more. It wasn't tired as in he couldn't keep his eyes open because he needed sleep, but a very different kind of tired.

"Loki," Thor greeted when he reached the throne Loki was sitting on, "are you okay?"

Loki managed to raise his eyes if not his head and whispered through a sore throat that made it hard to swallow, "fine."

Thor knew that Loki wasn't fine, but was relieved that he was acting otherwise. If Loki was badly injured that he admitted his injuries, then Thor would be worried. Slítas dropped form the back of the throne onto Loki and slithered up the sleeve of his jacket like he usually did while Thor helped Loki to his feet. Loki didn't have the energy to stand on his own Thor discovered after a moment, so Thor wrapped one of Loki's arms around his shoulders so he could help him walk.

"Father," Thor called out as he helped Loki walk down the steps. "Where's Tilaria?"

"Pardon?" Odin asked, surprised by his son's question.

"Tilaria," Thor repeated. "She was in the courtyard with us when she passed out, but she and Loki were gone when the rest of us woke up. If Loki's here, then where is Tilaria?"

Odin could only stare at Thor, and then look back at the other adults present. "I haven't seen her. She wasn't with Loki."

"Then where did she go?" Thor asked in concern. "She was unconscious like the rest of us so she shouldn't have gone anywhere."

Things were quiet as Thor's question was thought over, and Tyr realized first how it was possible.

"Unless she was moved," Tyr answered Thor. "Perhaps out assailant had a second objective besides your life, Allfather."

"Under the circumstances," Odin responded slowly. "I cannot discount the possibility."

Vir clapped a hand to his forehead in exasperation at how ridiculously out of control this situation was becoming. "Wait until Hallien hears about this. Last time she came she almost got killed and now we're supposed to tell Hallien ' _oops, we lost her_.'"

"Vir," Tyr growled at his brother, "that is not helpful."

Vir shrugged innocently while Odin grimaced at the Commander's wording. He might wish Vir had a little more tact, but it did not denounce the fact that he had a valid point. What were they going to tell Hallien?

"Are you sure Tilaria was with you?" Odin asked his older son.

Thor nodded. "She was talking with Loki when the barriers started ringing."

"Ringing," Freyja repeated softly. "I believe you're right Thor."

Loki agreed with Freyja. The Tesseract's energy had made the barriers resonate, but how could he say that it was the Tesseract that was now hurting Asgard? A century ago, Loki had been the one to lose it in the Void around Asgard so Nira would not gain custody of it. By doing so, the Tesseract had essentially been put "up for grabs." Whoever had it now, had it because Loki had been too weak to protect it.

"Right about what?" Thor asked blankly.

"Our shadow mage made the barriers resonate," Freyja repeated what Loki thought aloud without knowing it. "You know how sometimes a singer can shatter glass with their voice?"

Thor nodded.

"What happened to the barriers is similar to that," Freyja tapped her forehead with a finger to scold herself for not realizing it earlier. "In theory, if you can match the frequency that something resonates you can shatter it. That's the technique called Shatterpoint that's usually used by mages to break defensive wards."

"So you're saying that because the shade was able to resonate their magic like the barriers, that they can shatter them?" Odin asked darkly.

"Perhaps," Freyja replied. "The barriers do not exist on a mortal plane however, so the magic of mortals like us should not be able to able to affect them."

But the Tesseract could, Loki thought silently. It had the infinite power that even an Elder God could not match. If anything could destroy the barriers, then it was an Infinity Stone.

"The new problem that comes to mind is that in order to make the barriers resonate, our shadow mage or a friend of theirs had to have been on Asgard to do it." Freyja shook her head, "and the barriers never alerted anyone that there was a foreigner here."

"So our shadow mage is Asgardian," Odin finished for her, "and they likely have access to something a mortal should not."  
Everyone was quiet as Thor helped Loki down the last of the steps and started to walk across the throne room. Loki could feel Tyr and several of the others glancing at him arrogantly as if they couldn't believe he was so weak. He didn't have a defense for them, and didn't mention the Tesseract. It was clear that the Infinity Stone of Space being responsible for the shadow mage's power had already come to mind.

"Vir," Odin ordered suddenly. "Take some of your Star Guard and spread out. I want to know if anyone else is missing, and if Tilaria is still on Asgard. I want her found if she is."

Vir could tell that Odin meant now, so with a "yes sir" he left to relay the orders.

"What I'm more worried about is how the shadow mage was able to turn the barriers against us," Tyr said somberly. "They have always been our first and strongest line of defense, and now they're almost a liability. If they want, the shadow mage could shatter the barriers."

"Everything has a breaking point," Freyja reminded Tyr in a shockingly gentle voice considering she was speaking to Tyr. "As I mentioned earlier, that it what the Shatterpoint technique takes advantage of. A shatterpoint akin to a fault line, where applying pressure will make something break. Comparing the technique to a glass being shattered by a singer's voice is the perfect example, and it seems our shadow mage has discovered they can use the Infinity Stones against the barriers like a high note in a song."

"What race has access to an Infinity Stone level of power?" Tyr demanded.

"The elves," Akir, who had apparently invited himself without anyone noticing, cut in. "They are almost our equal."

"Don't start blaming anyone." Odin warned sharply.

"I doubt it's the elves behind the attack and Tilaria's disappearance," someone else inputted as they glided inside.

Odin could only be so surprised to see his queen make her entrance. "Meaning what, Frigga?"

"Why would Hallien send Tilaria here just to snatch her back?" Frigga asked. "It isn't logical, and that means it can't possibly be Ljósálfr. Dökkálfr are ruled by their emotions so I could see them doing something like this, but not a Ljósálfr."

That was true, and it calmed everyone down a few notches. Thor silently managed to inch to the doorway without their mother noticing they were here. He and Loki quickly made themselves scarce.

"What about Daris then?" Akir asked, raising a valid point for once. "He's a Ljósálfr, and he is on the loose."

"That I can see," Odin told Akir strongly. "Tilaria was partially responsible for his defeat last time, so it would make sense that she be targeted by him now. It would be foolish of him to rouse Asgard's anger though, as he kept his feud contained to Alfheim last time."

"Daris is hardly stable if the reports from Alfheim are even halfway accurate," Freyja chuckled. "I could see someone as deranged as him pressing his luck like this. The Tesseract was also lost to the Void a century ago. If he has found some way to tap into its power without being vaporized then it would explain how he was able to do this."

Yes, and Odin knew exactly whose fault that was. It was because of Loki that the Tesseract had been lost, although he knew his foster son had had little say in that matter. Taking Loki from Jötunnheim had obviously been a wise call as Odin had few illusions that he would have survived the shade had Loki not interfered, but the boy was still trouble.

Odin nodded to concede the point. "It seems it might be wise to speak to Hallien about this."

Akir gave Odin a befuddled look. "Speak to him and reveal to the Light Elves that a single mind-broke rouge had us on our knees? If they find out that happened they might see us as weak, and could move against us. Everyone knows they wish to dethrone us and rule the realms in our stead."

Odin could not ignore Akir's point either. Although Asgard was close allies with Vanaheim, their relationship with Alfheim had ever been strained.

"Things could become very bad for us very quickly." Akir muttered in a pained voice, and rubbed his forehead to fight off the headache that lingered from being unconscious.

"We need to secure Asgard, and see if anything else was tampered with," Odin said quietly. "We'll look for Tilaria in the meantime."

Damage control first, huh father? Loki thought as he and Thor left the throne room. He supposed he understood Odin's position. The safety of Asgard came before one person, and right now Asgard was in sore need of damage control. A shatterpoint hidden among the barriers was the worst possible thing for an enemy to discover.

Loki didn't know for sure if Daris was behind this attack, but it no longer mattered who the shadow mage answered to. The shatterpoint had been found, and Asgard was now in serious trouble.

* * *

 **This is the trouble with relying too much on a single thing because if someone finds a way around that thing then you are in trouble. The story's name is the same as this chapter because this is where the story's name begins to make sense. Although there have been other "shatterpoints" ( _like Sif arguing with Tilaria during the meal and her disrespect starting to break Tilaria's control over her emotions and upset her_ ) ****this is where you get the name for it.**

 **T** **he theme of shatterpoint as well as the word itself will continue to reoccur throughout the story.** **Everything has a breaking point, and that is the dominant theme of this story. That's why it's also the name of the story.**

 **The shatterpoint idea is from Star Wars. Dokkalfr are similar to Romulans, and the Ljosalfr are like Vulcans. Like the Romulans and Vulcans the two Eladrin species are cousins, and they really hate each other.**


	13. For Asgard

Thor helped Loki walk all the way outside to the courtyard where they had been when they had passed out. From there, it would be a straight shot up to the prince's rooms. He noticed how worn out Loki was getting, so once they reached the courtyard Thor let Loki sit down and lean against a pillar. It was terrifying for Thor to see Loki this weak and he couldn't wait until Loki recovered.

The two of them sat there for a little, enjoying the sunlight that fell on them and the autumn breeze. Slítas poked his head out of Loki's collar and nuzzled his cheek with a reassuring click. Loki smiled softly, but didn't have the energy to raise his hand.

Although the brothers didn't see it right away, Angborn was lying on the grass relaxing to let his headache fade. Angborn noticed Loki, but didn't pay him much mind. He had heard two stories about Loki's strength. The predominant one was that Loki was weak in terms of both strength and combat prowess, but sometimes when his temper rose his power spiked with it. Mages kept their emotions under control and stayed calm to avoid situations happening like the one that had happened half a century ago when Loki had lost his temper and almost killed Thor.

Right now, it seemed to Angborn that the story of him being weak was the accurate one. It must be quite odd, for someone like Loki to either be a weak disgrace or an untouchable berserker. Angborn must have made some move because a moment later he heard Thor call out to him, ad with a nod at Loki to go on, Thor hopped off the walkway and came over to Angborn.

Loki watched Thor walk over and start talking with Angborn idly, trying to form a coherent thought. Tilaria was missing, and he needed to find her. When he had projected to the barriers in the throne room earlier they hadn't alerted him of Tilaria's presence on Asgard as they had every time. They did it because she was elfin instead of Asgardian, but this last time they hadn't mentioned here where they had every other time in the past. The only reason they wouldn't mention her would be because she wasn't on Asgard anymore.

Slítas must have sensed Loki's discomfort somehow because he nibbled on Loki's ear, and Loki sighed softly.

"I'm sorry I'm not really into it right now Slítas," Loki apologized. "The first 24 hours after someone goes missing are critical in finding them, especially if you have elements like a shadow mage and possibly Daris involved. Now that a shatterpoint in the barriers have been discovered though, Father will be far too busy protecting the realm to look for her. I-I have to do something, but I can't think of what I can do to find her. I need to sleep and restore my lifeforce but if I'll sleep for days, and by then it will be too late to do anything."

Each word Loki spoke was said softly with a slight rasp from his sore throat, and there was a slight hesitation every few words as if he had to summon the energy to speak. His features were dark, and twisted slightly in frustration because he knew it was his own weakness. Slítas knew it wasn't Loki's weakness though, and it was normal considering how much of his Seidr the shade had taken. He shouldn't be blaming himself for circumstances out of his control.

Unexpectedly, Slítas looked away from Loki sharply with a serious expression as if debating something important. Slítas knew that Loki was correct, and that he needed to move quickly in order to find Tilaria. Although he had no way to communicate with Ymir's descendant, Slítas knew that this was not Loki's fault. It was not the Tesseract at work, but a copy of it, and he had a bad suspicion he knew exactly who was behind this.

Slítas's knew his strength had long since waned, just as it had for all the others of his time. At the moment, Loki was far more valuable to this mission then he was. He clicked at Loki sharply, and Ymir's distant child turned his head towards him curious at the seriousness in the click.

Slítas raised himself to Loki's eye level, making Loki lean back. Since he was already leaned back against the pillar there wasn't much that he could do, and he hesitated as Slítas lowered his head and touched his muzzle against Loki's nose. Then he exhaled.

Loki inhaled sharply and his eyes half-closed as energy suddenly rippled through his worn system. It was similar to contact with the barriers, but this energy was different somehow as if it were… more primal or feral, wild magic. The magic that was not Asgardian made Loki's blood sing in a way he had not felt since he had opened a rift to Jötunnheim a century ago. A brilliantly bright crimson red color slid into emerald-black irises.

Breathing his magic into Loki's exhausted soul left Slítas's own lifeforce depleted. In the past he could have rejuvenated someone easily, but now one breath was all it took for Slítas to slide off Loki's shoulders and fall onto the grass of the courtyard, already asleep. Loki closed his crimson eyes and hung his head as energy coursed through him.

Dosing was a technique where one mage gave another person whose lifeforce was low some of their Seidr. It was one of the easiest techniques to use, and to forcefully take a person's lifeforce from them was called drinking.

What Slítas had done was to literally breathe energy back into Loki's worn lifeforce, and Loki would not find that so bizarre if the technique was not a Lost Magic. Fifteen thousand years ago, the Elder Gods who had created the Nine Realms had slaughtered each other for power, becoming known as Fallen. In that war as the gods killed each other, the Fallen War, many magics had become "Lost Magics."

How Slítas knew a "Lost Magic" of the caliber of the one he had just used was beyond him, but Loki was grateful that he did. Slítas's technique was the purest form of dosing, and it energized Loki far more than a normal dose would have. His magic returned to its normal levels, and was actually left higher than normal.

Loki's blood sang with a song Loki had not heard for a century. When he used his ice magic, he heard a song similar to the one in his soul now, but this one was stronger. It almost seemed to call to his blood. The last time Loki had felt this strong of a melody was a century ago when he had opened a gate to Jötunnheim.

Odin had been threatening Slítas then, so Loki had used his magic that had been enhanced by the Tesseract to send him home to Jötunnheim. Not long after, ambassadors from Jötunnheim had come to Asgard, and Slítas had smuggled himself back with them. Loki knew without a doubt that the power Slítas had given him was Jötunn, but he didn't understand why his body was accepting the dose so well.

When Odin had adopted Loki, he had imprinted him with his own lifeforce. It was because of the imprint that Loki remained in Æsir form, and why Gungnir and Asgard recognized him as a prince. The imprint took control of the Jötunn blood that Slítas had awakened, and the crimson in his eyes faded away.

He didn't understand what was going on, but currently it wasn't one of his priorities. Loki hopped off the walkway and scooped up Slítas in his arms. His friend was breathing deeply and his heartbeat was stable, so he would likely be fine with a bit of rest. That was a relief for Loki.

"Loki?" Thor asked when he saw Loki on the grass instead of the catwalk, assuming he had fallen. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Loki promised and stood with Slítas in his arms.

Thor and Angborn were both startled to see that Loki was wide awake now. Angborn assumed that Loki had simply been acting it up earlier, and looked away while Thor stared. The red in Loki's eyes that Slítas had awakened had faded, but Thor still thought he saw a glimpse of crimson. That had happened several times before, so Thor dismissed it.

"Slítas," Loki explained with a shrug, unsure what else he could say to explain what Slítas had done to him.

Thor stood and started to walk over to Loki, wanting to see for himself that Loki was fine and wanting a better explanation. He took a few steps, and when he tried to take a third the toe of his boot slid on something. His foot slid out from under him, and Thor fell forward. Reflex made him put his hands in front to him so he did not land flat on his stomach, and he was able to catch himself.

"Are you okay?" Loki asked Thor when his brother sat up, mimicking Thor's earlier question.

"I'm fine," Thor said, copying Loki's response on accident. "Something tripped me."

He looked through the dry grass, and managed to see a glitter of gold. Curiously, he leaned over and fished the glitter out of the grass. It was a gold dragon coin, and Thor sighed softly at just how perfectly he must have stepped on this in order for it to trip him up.

"Is this yours Angborn?" Thor asked and held out the coin to him.

Angborn shook his head. "I don't have any coin on me right now."

Loki glanced up from Slítas at Thor's question, and saw the coin. He didn't take it too seriously until his magic reacted to it. Then he remembered whose coin it was.

"Thor," Loki called out, "can I see that?"

Thor nodded and tossed the coin over to Loki. Loki snapped it out of the air with one hand and looked at it in his palm. His memory had been correct, for this was the coin Tilaria had been levitating before the blackout and it was still laced with her magic. That was why his own magic had reacted to it, and Loki smiled when he realized that he had a sample of Tilaria's magic. This little fragment might be enough for him to do a tracking spell with.

Loki cast an evidence sphere around the coin so the trace of Tilaria's magic wouldn't fade or become contaminated. His father might be too busy stabilizing Asgard, but Loki had the time to do a tracking spell. There was no reason why he couldn't because after all, Odin had never told him _not_ to try and find Tilaria.

"I'm going back to my room," Loki told Thor sharply, and tucked the sphere with the coin into his jacket pocket with one hand while he held Slítas in the other.

"You're what?" Thor asked in confusion, wondering what had just come over Loki and what was so important about the coin.

"My room," Loki repeated. "You know the thing that has my bed and my clothes, you have one to."

"I know what a room is," Thor sighed at Loki's literalism as he walked over and stood before him. "Why? What's so important about that coin?"

Loki thought about not telling Thor, but figured it couldn't hurt to have Thor around in case something went wrong with the spell he was planning to do.

"Vir's wasting his time looking for Tilaria," Loki started to explain. "She's not on Asgard. If she were, then as a Non-Asgardian the barriers would be able to instantly pinpoint her location. Since they can't do that, she's not here."

Thor didn't ask Loki how he knew what the barriers did since Loki usually did. "So if she's not here then how do you expect to find her?"

Loki tapped his jacket pocket with his free hand. "The coin you found was the one Tilaria was magiking before the blackout. It still has her magic in it, and I might be able to track her with that."

"Like a hunting hound with a scent," Thor compared in mundane terms. "Can you actually do it? Isn't inter-realm magic like that difficult?"

"It is," Loki admitted, "but it's not like we have very many other options available. This way, we can look for Daris while father secures Asgard."

"Daris?" Thor took a slight step back. "That elf that started the civil war a month ago? What's he got to do with it?"

"Maybe nothing," Loki admitted, "but maybe something. Like they said in the throne room, Tilaria was partly responsible for Dari's defeat and she's the one missing now. I doubt it's a coincidence. Even if it's not Daris, if we find Tilaria then we find the person holding her prisoner. Whoever her captive is, is an enemy."

Angborn lowered his head as if he were staring at his boots, but his eyes were watching Loki out of the corner of his vision. Loki was right, he grasped. If they found Tilaria then then whoever was holding her was the enemy. Even if it wasn't the shadow mage themselves it would be an ally of theirs, and if one traitor was caught then information about the other's identities could be found. They just needed to catch one, and the easiest way to do that was to find the one holding Tilaria.

Loki started walking away, and Thor followed him leaving Angborn to watch after them. If they found Tilaria then they would be on the way to finding the traitor. Angborn sighed and stood after a minute or so, realizing that it would be in Asgard's best interest if Loki succeeded in locating Tilaria.

He had no wish to work with someone as dangerous as Loki, but he didn't have much of a choice. The adults were too busy to act, so that left only the children. To protect Asgard he had to work with Loki to find Tilaria and a possible lead on the traitor.

Angborn knew where the prince's quarters were so he started to walk down the halls to them. Loki might need some help with his spell. Just this once, Angborn would work with Loki. The identity of the shadow mage and their allies needed to be found, and Loki's had a chance of doing just that. He would work with Loki, for Asgard.

* * *

 **It's ironic and annoying that Angborn sees working with Loki as some _great sacrifice_. Loki being so weakened by the shade really isn't his fault, and he's hela lucky to have even survived clashing with it. Most don't and when the shadow mage and their shades strike again, many won't.**

 **Loki is also lucky to have Slítas with him. Slítas's "dose" he gave to Loki is artificial so Loki will burn through it quickly with his spells, but it will do for now. How exactly Slítas knows a technique that was lost so long ago will be left up to your imagination.**


	14. A Lesson in Scrying

Because teleporting might contaminate the dragon coin with Loki's magic, the brother's took the time to walk back to their rooms. When they finally arrived in Loki's room where his magic supplies were, Loki shooed Thor out of his immediate way so he had room to work. He set Slítas on his bed and carefully shaped the dark green sheets into a nest for his serpent.

Once Loki was sure Slítas would be fine, he set the sphere with the coin on his desk and went to his supplies. His closet had been extended so although there were clothes on the left side, the right side had shelves full of his magic supplies such as herbs, crystals, and books. He ducked into his closet and after a little fishing around underneath his clothes he slipped his hand thorough an illusionary tile and he withdrew a small copper disk about the size of his hand.

"Are you sure this will work?" Thor asked and closed Loki's balcony doors as Loki set the disk on the floor and sat down across from it.

"No Thor, I don't," Loki admitted in a voice tired from Thor's questions. "Now shush, and leave the balcony doors open."

"Why?" Thor asked and opened them again.

Loki sighed softly and levitated the sphere with the coin to his hand from the desk. "I told you when we were walking up."

The disk before Loki was a circular Scrying disk Loki had made and polished to the point that it reflected his image. Using the disk, Loki could scry to view a distant thing, place, or person. He dismissed the evidence sphere and set the coin with Tilaria's magic on the surface of the disk.

"I only have one chance to do this," Loki spoke, doing his best to spell it out. "After this spell has been cast the energy will build up inside my disk. Once it reaches high enough levels I'll be able to see what realm Tilaria is on. The only problem is that I can't stop the energy buildup so it will _keep_ building until the disk explodes. That's why I need the doors open – unless you want the disk to explode in my room."

Thor quieted, and Loki looked back down. He wished that he didn't have to sacrifice his scrying disk, but he could always make another one if he wished. Scrying disks were actually forbidden magical instruments, so it wasn't that bad that it was the thing getting destroyed.

"So let me concentrate," Loki said grimly. "I can't afford to fail."

Thor sat on the chair next to Thor's desk without another word, and Loki was grateful for his cooperation. Neither boy doubted that their father had tried to regulate the knowledge of the barrier's shatterpoint, but both had heard rumors about it when they were walking up here. Since they were the princes, they had been asked if the rumors were true and what was going to happen until Loki gave up and put himself and Thor under an invisibility weave.

Both princes were somber with the dangerous turn things had taken. There was no doubt that the other realms had spies or information sources so they knew what was happening on Asgard. With rumors of the shatterpoint so common, the other realms would likely catch wind of it. Asgard's enemies like the Dæmons and Jötnar, would likely try to take advantage of the shatterpoint in an attack. The shadow mage had to be found, _now_.

Loki set his the tips of his fingers on both hands on the scrying disk and started whispering. Barely a syllable had left his lips before the sound of someone knocking on his door echoed. The brothers looked at each other in panic at being caught in the act.

"Heimdall must have seen us!" Thor hissed.

Loki sent out a sense line and then narrowed his eyes and stood. "That is not a Star Guard Thor."

He walked over and the door unlocked and opened by itself as he reached it, revealing Angborn standing in the hallway. Angborn glanced up when the door opened, and straightened at the sight of Loki.

"What are you doing here?" Loki asked Angborn, surprised that someone would seek him out.

Angborn had come to the same conclusion Loki had about the new shatterpoint. This situation was already dangerous, and could become critical very easily. During the blackout anything could have been taken, and someone had nearly succeeded in killing the Allfather while he was unconscious.

Angborn didn't want Asgard to be that vulnerable. He wanted to stop the shadow mage and any allies if they had some. Loki's plan to track down Tilaria would lead them to the shadow mage or an ally of theirs. It was a plan to stop the new and terrifying threat from within that Asgard faced, and it was the only plan anyone had. The idea of working with someone as dishonorable as Loki was distasteful, but he would do it to protect Asgard.

"I know you have a plan to find Tilaria and catch the shadow mage," Angborn promised Loki. "I want to help protect Asgard."

"How very noble," Loki taunted in an amused voice after a few seconds. "I'm afraid I don't need the help, but you can stay and watch if you wish."

Angborn bristled at Loki's arrogant dismissal, but walked inside his room when Loki stepped back. Loki's room was full of books lining the walls, and there was a part of the wall by the closet for magic supplies. Otherwise it was sparse and amazingly neat without a single thing lying on the floor.

Loki was already planning several steps past finding out which realm Tilaria was on, so he charged a charm. When Angborn closed the door and walked by him, Loki brushed his fingers lightly against his right wrist. There was a glimmer of magic as Loki's spell set, but Angborn didn't realize he had just been charmed.

"Heimdall is too busy searching on Asgard for Tilaria, and helping with damage control, but he'll notice your disk exploding." Thor warned Loki when his brother sat down in front of the disk again.

"I know," Loki promised and flexed his fingers. "I'll have the information on Tilaria by then though, so it won't matter."

Angborn knew Loki was going to do something to find Tilaria, but he didn't know what. He panicked a little when Thor said the word explode, and by Loki's calm response to the word. _What_ exactly was Loki going to do?

"Even if you find what realm Tilaria's on, how are we going to get there? I doubt Heimdall will let us use Bifrost," Thor continued.

"Hopefully all we have to do is find proof that she's off Asgard and the adults can go retrieve her," Loki said rationally. "I have an idea of what to do if they don't and we have to find her ourselves."

Thor nodded and quieted. Angborn stood beside Thor tensely, unsure what to make of the situation he had just walked into. The elder prince gave Angborn a reassuring look, but Angborn couldn't understand how he could be so calm even after Loki said _explode_?

"Don't interfere," Loki warned the two of them.

Then he set his fingertips on the edge of his Scrying disk and started whispering. First he said the words "itoya dira" to activate the disk and then began to say the words of his spell. To Angborn the words Loki spoke sounded like gibberish, or like written runes rather than any sort of words. It made him shiver and Angborn didn't doubt that it Loki was speaking Magescript, the language of magic.

The gold dragon coin glowed and then became liquid. It melted into the copper scrying disk, and gold veins spread across the disk's surface like arteries. Thor and Angborn had to avert their eyes as the golden glow brightened to the point that it was hard for them to see, and there was a sound like shifting ice on a river as the scrying disk began to fracture.

Loki stopped whispering, and blackness clouded all five of his senses. It was as if he had fallen into a void, and the inability to feel anything terrified him. After a moment, the blackness faded and color seeped in. The color came into focus, and Loki could almost feel the hot winds of the realm and the pain in his throat from breathing in the polluted air. Tilaria was on this realm? Why of all the realms was she there?

Angborn jumped when Loki swore and tore his hands off the disk, kicking the disk back from himself.

"Throw it!" Loki shouted.

Thor jumped out of his seat instantly and grabbed the disk while Angborn stared uselessly, having no idea what was going on. The scrying disk that Thor picked up was thrown out the open balcony doors like a Frisbee as he turned. Loki waved one of his hands, fingers curled awkwardly, and the doors slammed closed.

Angborn jumped to his feet as the disk glowed like a sun with wide eyes, remembering that Thor had said the word explode. Before the disk fell below the balcony from his line of sight it exploded in a flash of light. He raised a hand to shield his eyes from the light, and that was when the shockwave from the explosion hit. There was a brief noise and then the sound vanished, so the explosion was eerily silent and it remained silent even when the shockwave shattered the glass-paned doors and made the ground rumble slightly.

A hot wind tugged his hair and clothes back, and he adjusted his stance so he wouldn't fall. He saw the shards of glass from the door come flying at him, and then suddenly there was light between the glass and the children like a sheer curtain colored emerald-black. The shards hit it, and fell to the ground harmlessly. Sound returned although Angborn's were ringing and the sound was muddled as if he was underwater.

When the odd distortion faded Angborn heard Thor mutter, "Heimdall definitely saw that."

Thor knelt by Loki's side, but Loki did his best to shake Thor off. "I'm fine you oaf, just some burns. I expected as much. The explosion was a little larger than I thought it would be, and I didn't think I'd need a ward. It's lucky it held."

Thor reached out a hand, but didn't quite touch Loki's hands that he held in front of him. They were badly burnt, and some of the flesh was more black then red from the burns. Although Loki's hands were shaking he was managing to hide any other indication of pain that he felt. Casting a ward by channeling his magic to his fingers while his hands were burnt wasn't a smart idea, and although Thor was grateful for Loki's protection he wished he hadn't pushed himself like that.

"I hope that worked brother," Thor said instead and grabbed Loki's arm to help pull him to his feet.

Loki tried to jerk his arm free, but Loki had too firm a grip so he gave up. "It worked. I know what realm she's on."

Thor's eyes lit up and when Loki was standing on his own, he lowered his hand from Loki. "Where is she?"

Loki shook his head unexpectedly. "You won't believe this, but my spell says Tilaria is on Svartalfheim."

"Eh?" Both Angborn and Thor shouted at the same time in shock, stepping closer.

"The Dark World," Thor demanded when he recovered.

Angborn merely stared and thought that it might be best if he had stayed out of Loki's way. The explosion proved that things were dangerous around Loki.

"Yes the Dark Elves home," Loki repeated and held his hands close together to try and use a self-heal spell to fix the burns.

"Tch, tch, tch," Loki hissed softly in pain and stopped the healing.

Self-heal spells were notoriously difficult, and it was a poor idea all the way around to cast with such severe burns. He decided to stop and laid his hands in his lap, palm up. Before very long at all the doors were opened by Star Guard. Loki decided to let them enter, so they were not attacked by his protective spells. They hesitated when they saw the glass, broken doors, and the three children who were in the middle of it all.

"The Allfather wishes to see you, princes," one of the Star Guard announced to them.

"Sounds like Heimdall say us after all," Loki smiled. "You Star Guard came too quickly to respond to the explosion, so Heimdall alerted you to come and get us before I finished scrying didn't he?"

"So he did," one of them responded.

Loki glanced over at Slítas, but the serpent hadn't stirred from the explosion. It looked like he was in a deep sleep, necessary to revitalize lost energy. He would be fine obviously, and Loki felt it was safe to leave him unattended and follow the Star Guard as they ushered the boys from Loki's room. Before they left, Thor pulled the doors to Loki's rooms shut so he wouldn't have to with his burned hands and Loki raised the protective spells around his room so no one could enter while Slítas was vulnerable.

"I think I'll go to Fey first," Loki told the Star Guard. "I've burned myself badly."

He expected the Star Guard to disagree, and so reached for his magic out of instinct for trouble. His magic was worn from the scrying and the shade's touch. Slítas's dose was still an artificial influx of magic, and it did not sit as well with Loki as his normal magic would. It remained a temporary measure, and when Loki's normal magic recoiled a different kind of magic spiked him.

Perhaps it was because of his recent contact with the Tesseract fragments in the barriers, but an unnatural blue slid into his eyes. Sparkles of the Tesseract's color glittered amid his emerald-black irises for a brief second, and during that second he realized that he could sense he was being watched. Because of the Tesseract's touch he could sense Heimdall looking at him.

"Heimdall," Loki said in a scolding voice as he looked up at the ceiling. "Stop staring at us. Surely you have better things to do."

"Huh?" Thor asked blankly, and the look of Angborn and the Star Guard matched his words.

Heimdall flinched away and averted his gaze from Loki and the other children. He was glad that Loki's eyes weren't red from his Jötunn heritage, but he still recoiled from the Tesseract's blue. It had to be because the Tesseract was involved in the barrier's injuries. Traces of it remained in the barriers and saturating Asgard's atmosphere. Only Loki, who had once harnessed the Tesseract's power without being vaporized, would be susceptible to its energy and it was obvious that he was.

Loki was the first of the five to start walking, and after a hesitant moment the Star Guard, Thor, and Angborn caught up to him. Thor smiled, unaware of the blue that had touched Loki's eyes. To him, Loki was simply getting stronger, and the fact that he was able to sense Heimdall proved that he had recovered.

Angborn was far more worried with the fact that he was being escorted with Loki then the fact Heimdall had been seen. His father would know that he had disobeyed him and spent time with Loki. Hopefully the information Loki had gotten was worth the ire of his father. Svartalfheim huh, the dead world of Malekith, and the last place anyone would think to look for Tilaria. By that regard, he supposed it was the perfect place to hide someone.

He hoped that with a location, Asgard would be on its way to tracking down the shadow mage and their allies.

* * *

 **If only things would be so simple Angborn, but Svartalfheim presents problems of its own. Not in the least being Daris's troops who are currently occupying it, or the fact that the children might not be believed if they say there's an army on a dead world. Things are just starting to get interesting.**


	15. Escape Number Two

**Hello readers, i have an announcement for you. This is going to be the last chapter of _Shatterpoint_ that i am posting for awhile. I will not abandon it so do not worry, but i am currently in the process of rewriting my other stories. Like how I turned _Halfling of Asgard_ into its current form of _Shatterpoint_ i am fixing the rest of my Pre-Thor arc.**

 **" _1 Supers before the Heroes_ " has been completely rewritten on March 9, 2016. If you have read it before then, then i ask you to go back and reread it. It is no longer painful to read as it was before and the plot has been altered and added to. It's only nine chapters long, so it is a quick read. **

**The reason i am temporarily stopping with _Shatterpoint_ is because I am rewriting _One Month One War_ , and want to focus on it so i won't write two different stories at once and risk messing them both up. I know _One Month One War_ was probably the worst and most shallow of all my stories, which is why i'm currently fixing it.**

 **Once I am done with _One Month One War_ i will go back to _Shatterpoint_. I will not abandon it.**

* * *

"SHE IS TO ON SVARTA! BROTHER SAYS SO!" Thor shouted.

Loki sighed at Thor's shout and closed his eyes tiredly. The brief charge he had gotten from the Tesseract was gone now, and he was currently in the Healer's Ward. Fey stood before him working on repairing his hands, and Thor and Odin were facing off against each other.

"Hold still," Fey ordered Loki as the burnmarks on his hands faded and his skin healed.

Thor was standing on one of the beds in the Healer's Ward so he was close to the same height as his father, and glaring at him sharply. If it were possible there'd be a lightning bolt between their eyes as they tried to stare each other down. It was becoming typical for the father and son to butt heads like this, but it was getting on Fey's nerves. She glanced at Angborn but he was sitting on a bunk quietly with an almost depressed appearance, and wisely making no attempt to interrupt them.

"You might as well listen to them Odin," Fey called out to the Allfather to try and distract him from the standoff. "It's the only lead you have as of now on Tilaria. If you find Tilaria then you'll find her captive, which will be the shadow mage or an ally of theirs."

Odin sighed at Fey's barbed comment, and turned away from his son to glance at her with his left eye. "Loki did forbidden magic without authorization and almost blew up the palace, _again_. It's just like he did last century."

"Unjust means do not invalidate the information," Fey reminded Odin. "I think they're right. It's certainly the last place that crossed anyone's mind to look."

Thor took advantage of the fact that Odin was distracted to glare at Loki lightly, wishing that he had been told that the scrying disk and spell were forbidden. Fey motioned for Thor to get down from the bunk with her head, and Thor reluctantly hoped off to the floor.

"A scrying disk is almost as dangerous as Dayturn toxin," Odin replied pointedly.

He was reminding Loki about that time _again_ when he had used forbidden magic without authorization. That had been a century ago, and Loki had dosed himself on Dayturn Toxin to boost his magic. Loki wasn't elfin, and he had controlled the dosage so he hadn't killed himself. After that Odin had confiscated Loki's supply of it, but Odin truly doubted that he had taken all of Loki's supply. There would be more hidden in his room somewhere.

Loki didn't say anything to the reminder of his Dayturn Toxin.

"There," Fey declared triumphantly and lowered her hands from Loki.

Loki wiggled his fingers to test them, but the burns had healed. Although there was discoloration there was no pain. He nodded thanks to Fey.

"We've already scanned Svartalfheim," Tyr, who had also appeared with Odin at the mention of _Svartalfheim_ , sighed impatiently. "The planet has been dead since the defeat of Malekith, and it is still dead. There is no one alive there, including Tilaria."

"Then she's cloaked," Loki replied smartly and hopped off the bed. "Heimdall isn't perfect."

Odin seemed displeased by Loki's tartness, and looked at the two Star Guard who had escorted the princes to the Healer's Ward. He knew that his sons would not stop, especially since he had told them no. The Star Guard straightened when they realized Odin was looking at them.

"Escort my sons to their rooms and stand guard." Odin ordered them. "They are to stay there for the time being."

"Yes sir," they answered and started to walk towards the boys.

Thor and Loki looked at each other knowingly, but allowed themselves to be escorted away. Eirill stood near the doorway, having been with Tyr and accompanied him when his son's name had been mentioned. After the princes left, Angborn glanced at his father and Eirill motioned for him to come.

With a slight bow at Fey Angborn walked to his father. Eirill led his son into the empty hallway so they could have a little privacy and then turned to face him. It was obvious that he wasn't happy.

"Father," Angborn greeted Eirill softly, almost cringing at the amount of trouble he knew he was in.

"Angborn," Eirill began in a cross voice. "I thought I warned you to stay away from Loki. He's unstable and dangerous, and nothing good will come of interacting with him. You heard what Odin said about the time he used Dayturn Toxin, not to mention that he's almost killed Thor once already. It's best for you to keep your distance from him."

"Father-" Angborn started.

"If you stay with Loki all that will happen is that you will get in trouble, just like you did today." Eirill reminded pointedly. "He is among other things a bad influence who uses magic, trickery, and lies. Although he is a prince of our realm, he is a disgrace to the royal family. I don't want to see you near him again least you start to act like him. Understood?"

Angborn remembered how Loki had cast the ward and protected him from the glass shards despite the burns on the latter's hands. He shook off the memory sure that Loki had merely been protecting Thor. Loki had no limits as long as Thor was kept safe when he was feeling sane, and if he wasn't then Thor was as much of a target as anyone else. It would likely be the best.

"Yes father," Angborn whispered consent quietly.

"Good," Eirill said in a relieved tone as if the knowledge that his son would stay away from Loki was a burden lifted. "Now return to your room. I'll be there to speak to you later."

"Yes father," Angborn repeated and quietly walked back to his room without another word.

* * *

Thor moodily plodded alongside Loki as they approached their quarters yet again. He was worn out from walking up and down the palace so many times, but did his best to hide the fact that he was out of breath. What was his father thinking to have them escorted to their rooms? Was he really alright with leaving Tilaria with the shadow mage and their allies? And if Daris _was_ behind this blackout and Tilaria's kidnapping?

"Inside my princes," One of the Star Guard ordered them in a kind voice once they reached their rooms.

Thor glanced at Loki, sure his brother was going to pull a sudden escape, but Loki was already walking complying with their wishes and walking into his room. If Loki had a plan he wasn't using it, so Thor glumly went inside and sat on his bed. One of the Star Guard followed him in and locked his balcony doors and raised the enchantments. When he left he locked Thor in, and Thor didn't doubt that he was standing guard outside the door.

Thor picked up his wooden training sword from his sheets and threw it across the room. It hit the glass-planed doors that led to his balcony loudly and fell to the ground. The enchantments around the princes' rooms were meant to protect them, but when they were activated they also trapped them. Why would Loki go along with this so docilely? That wasn't like Loki at all to give in and do what their father ordered.

Thor jumped when he heard a crash from out in the hallway. There was another sound similar to the first and then silence. The silence made the hair on the back of Thor's neck stand on end, and he reached under his bed and withdrew a different sword. This sword was metal and the light reflected off its sharpened edge as he withdrew it from its scabbard with a hiss.

There was a click as the lock turned, and Thor's door swung inward. Thor climbed off his bed and held his sword in front of him in a fighting stance as it opened. Was it the shadow mage coming after the princes like they had to their father? Instead of the shadow mage, it was Loki.

"L-Loki! How?" He stuttered.

Thor leaned down to look behind his brother and saw a Star Guard's arm lying outside the door. Loki had knocked them out? At least, Thor hoped they were only unconscious.

"Didn't you learn from our sparring earlier when I was allowed to fight with my normal daggers that I'm stronger then I let on?" Loki demanded somewhat tartly. "I don't care if I win or lose a few sparring matches with a useless sword that I know I can't wield, so I don't try with Eirill."

Thor didn't have an answer to that, and Loki waved a hand towards the hallway. "Come on. We have to get to Svarta. We might run into the shadow mage or their friends while we're there so you better put on your armor."

Loki's words made Thor swallow, and he looked down at his polished blade. For all Thor's bluff and bluster he had never really been in battle. The closest he had come was the Jötnar's raid on Asgard a century ago, and Thor had been relatively sheltered from that. It had been Loki who had lost his temper and slain most of the Jötnar after they had killed Sigyn, not Thor.

Thor looked up from his sword, but say that Loki had left the doorway. He knew his brother wouldn't have gone far, so Thor temporarily set his sword on the sheets of his bed and began to get dressed in the leather armor he had gotten. Wish though he may otherwise, he was too young to have real armor, and was lucky to even have a real sword.

Loki left Thor's doorway and stepped over the fallen Star Guard back to his room. He checked in on Slítas, but his pet was still sleeping deeply, burrowed in to the nest of sheets Loki had made. The mishap with the scrying spell hadn't even stirred him.

He smiled, and gently stroked his cobra's spines a few times lightly. The only reason Loki had had the energy to do the scrying was thanks to Slítas dosing him. Loki even had enough energy left over to feel comfortable about going with his brother to Svarta, and the strength of the dose was astonishing. This was going to be a dangerous quest, so perhaps it was for the best that Slítas was staying here on Asgard.

Assured that Slítas would be alright, Loki went back into the hallway. He had contacted Amora telepathically on his walk to the Healer's Ward, and found her waiting for him.

"Do you want me to come with you to Svarta?" Amora asked calmly.

She barely glanced at the sight of the unconscious Star Guard. Really, it was Odin's fault they were unconscious. He should have known better than to try and keep the princes locked up.

Loki shook his head. "No, I'll keep an eye on Thor and his friends. I need you and your sister to draw Heimdall's sight from me. If he realizes we're trying to slip to the Dark World he'll stop us."

"Heimdall?" Amora asked in amusement. "How are we supposed to do that?"

Loki smiled, "If you two need an idea then I know Jonelle is going to stop by the apple tree courtyard."

"Jonelle," Amora repeated slowly, and then she smiled as mischievously as Loki for all mages had mischief in their blood. "I believe we can work with that."

"By the way," Loki added. "Do you know where Thor's friends are?"

"Fandral and Volstagg are home already," Amora said without looking in Loki's direction as she thought of what to do to Jonelle that would gain Heimdall's attention. "Sif is in Hogun's room."

Loki knew that Fandral and Volstagg were too far away to get there in time, but Sif and Hogun could help. "Before you find Jonelle, can you go tell Sif and Hogun to gear up for battle?"

"Anything to upset Odin," Amora promised.

Loki pretended that he hadn't just heard her say that, and added. "Have them meet us at the Dragon War tapestry, and make sure they know to hurry. I'll signal you when we're ready for your distraction."

Thor came back out of his room just as Amora teleported off to warn Sif and Hogun. He looked where she had been and then at Loki curiously, asking a wordless question.

"Amora's going to get us some reinforcements," Loki said before Thor could. "Come on, we're going to meet up with Sif and Hogun."

"Where?" Thor asked strongly.

All of the normal childish banter was gone, and he was serious now that he knew he had to be. Thor might not make a good king, but he would make a fine general one day. Loki was grateful his brother had become serious.

"Dragon War tapestry as usual," Loki informed him and started to run towards the tapestry.

Thor nodded and followed his brother down the hall to the tapestry where some of his friends would be waiting.

* * *

 **Loki is still being Loki, and is once again breaking the rules. What a surprise. _*rolls eyes at the sarcasm*_**

 **Amora and Lorelei are two Marvel-based mages. My Lorelei is based off of her Marvel Cinematic apperance, but Amora is not directly based on the comics or Cinematic.**

 **A lot of stuff happened a century ago as you probably already know about. There's a four story arc about the events a century ago. _"A Different Kind of Courage"_ is the first of the arc if you are interested in learning more about it. More allusions will be made to that time.**


End file.
